Rovaniemi aims at boosting summer tourism

Rovaniemi has taken a number of initiatives aimed at attracting foreign tourists in order to boost the summer tourism market in the city.

Although nature keeps the city decorated with its pristine beauty round the year, summer here is special and spectacularly different mainly due to its unique feature of nightless days.

Rovaniemi in the recent years has witnessed a boom in winter tourism, but, in comparison, tourism in summertime is yet to post any significant rise, prompting the city authorities, tourism operators, and policymakers to devise plan and undertake projects to promote, in particular, the Lappish summer among the international tourists.

Last year, the number of overnight stays in the accommodation facilities in the city were recorded at 42,702 in November, 96,495 in December, 57,171 in January, 64,894 in February, and 61,404 in March, compared to 24,252 in April, 19,963 in May, 36,010 in June, 52,969 in July, 42,525 in August, 28,918 in September, and 25,809 in October, said a Visit Rovaniemi source referring to Statistics Finland’s data. The data show winter with its snow and ice, winter sports and events, as well as Xmas and Santa Claus, among other things, woe tourists almost double the number of those who come to enjoy summer in Lapland and watch its magical night-less night.

“It always amazes me to see the sun shining at night and even the midnight being sunny,” said an Indian tourist who was visiting Rovaniemi with his family, adding that such a phenomenon could never be imagined in his region.

A Chinese tourist said she visited Rovaniemi in winter as well as summer and every season has its special natural charms and beauty.

Visit Finland based on a recent survey report said Finland expects summer tourism to thrive very soon. Foreign tour operators also predict that the number tourists from abroad will increase by 5-10 per cent, which would have a positive impact on tourism in Rovaniemi.

“We are promoting Rovaniemi for summer tourists in Europe and overseas, in China and Asia. For us it of high importance to operate travel business throughout the year that would help us get new investments in the area, create jobs, and tourism revenue for the city,” Visit Rovaniemi Managing Director Sanna Kärkkäinen told the Daily Finland.

She said Visit Rovaniemi is now entirely focused on summer tourism market.

“Together with suppliers (tourism businesses), we have been developing the programme services to match better the needs of our global travellers for summer. That development goes for all the markers (European, Asian). There is a growing interest now in summer tourism in Lapland and we are very happy for that,” Kärkkäinen said with much confidence.

She said Rovaniemi is definitely a key player in tourism in Finland as well as the Nordic countries and will continue to develop the tourism onto the next level.