About Oscar

Oscar Almgren is founder and CEO of UTGuiden, a professional guiding company in Norway's northwestern Møre og Romsdal region — effectively a one-stop shop for adventure tourism he has built since 2012. UTGuiden runs year-round across kayaking, rafting, skiing, biking, and luxury bespoke trips, scaling from ~10 guides in winter to ~80 in summer across roughly 25 nationalities. In 2025 the company had only about 10 days with no activity — a deliberate push to keep guide talent employed beyond peak season.

What we talked about

Year-round adventure in a seasonal industry — How UTGuiden packages week-long bike expeditions, daily departures, cruise-shore excursions, and luxury bespoke trips — plus creative winter combos like kayak-and-sauna to overcome "too cold" objections.

Post-pandemic growth and new headwinds — Roughly 20% yearly growth since COVID, driven partly by cruise traffic — but trade wars and geopolitical anxiety now unsettle high-spending North American week-trip buyers.

OTA dependence vs. direct — Listings on Visit Norway, GetYourGuide, and TripAdvisor bring reach at high commission; Oscar argues Norway's product could sell direct — but competitors force parity.

Speed wins inquiries — TikTok-generation customers expect fast replies; slow responses mean lost bookings — especially for complex ski or multi-day requests.

AI in the back office, guides on the mountain — Feeding price lists and product docs into AI to draft polished inquiry responses in minutes instead of twenty — while guides remain irreplaceable for safety on the mountain.

Community over pure commercialism — Running a local boulder gym at break-even, free school climbing access, and cross-season partnerships to balance brutal July-vs-November seasonality.

Sharpest moments

On near year-round operations:

we had like 10 days in total with like no activity all over the year

On what AI cannot replace:

my guides, they will never lose the job. That's like the only thing I'm a hundred percent confident of

On response-time pressure:

if you like you can't come back with the answer in three days because then they have been yeah then they are like totally somewhere else

On what UTGuiden actually sells:

We're selling those experiences

On hoping the industry shifts:

people really acknowledge like quality

Key takeaways

• UTGuiden spans mass-market daily trips and high-margin luxury bespoke experiences — using volume segments to protect market position.
• Target ~30% margin on week trips erodes through back-and-forth email labor on inquiries that never convert.
• Booking system integrations across ~20 OTA platforms are non-negotiable — manual allotment updates do not scale.
• AI streamlines inquiry responses and internal guide onboarding; the guided experience itself stays human and authentic.
• Repeat winter ski guests return year after year; lifetime Norway visitors need new products (e.g., Northern Norway) to rebook.
• "Guide talks" video interviews and low-production authentic content outperform polished powder-ski reels for trust.
• Oscar's next focus: shoulder-season revenue, guide retention via cross-industry partnerships, and expanding beyond Møre og Romsdal.