Tourism in Rovaniemi booms in October

The number of overnight stays by tourists at the accommodation facilities in Rovaniemi rose as much as 22.7 per cent in October 2018 from that in October 2017, according to Visit Rovaniemi.

A total of 38,500 overnight stays were registered in the month in Rovaniemi, of which Finns accounted for 19,500, showing a three per cent hike, and foreign residents 19,000, posting a 52 per cent hike year on year.

Among the international tourists, Japanese made the highest number of 2,500 overnight stays, followed by USA 2,400, China 1,800, Belgium 1,300, Germany 970, Russia 900, Norway and UK 740 each, Australia 680, and Sweden 570. Overnight stays by tourists of all these countries marked a year-on-year increase in October, except a 16.9 per cent decline posted by visitors from China.

According to Visit Rovaniemi sources, in October 2017, a total of 31,400 overnight stays by tourists were registered in Rovaniemi, of which Finns accounted for 18,900, registering a 17 per cent rise, and foreign tourists 12,500, showing a 29 per cent rise year on year. In October 2016, the number of overnight stays by tourists in Rovaniemi was recorded at 25,700, including 16,000 by Finnish tourists and 9,700 by foreign tourists, the Visit Rovaniemi sources said.

A total of 476,000 overnight stays in Rovaniemi were recorded in January to October 2018, which is 2.9 per cent more than that in the same period of last year.

“The reason behind the remarkable increase in October overnight stays is the big meetings and conferences like Arctic Biodiversity Congress, Arctic Environment Ministers’ Meet and the Meeting of Senior Arctic Officials (SAO) held in Rovaniemi,” said Visit Rovaniemi Managing Director Sanna Kärkkäinen.

Rovaniemi Congresses Manager Juhani Sallanmaa of Visit Rovaniemi said about 450 people took part in the Arctic Biodiversity Congress 2018 organised by the Ministry of the Environment & CAFF (Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna) as a part of the programmes under the Finnish presidency of the Arctic Council which had a positive impact on the overnight stays by tourists in October.

About 200 people took part in the conference of Arctic Council foreign ministers and the meetings of the Sustainable Development Working Group (SDWG) and the Senior Arctic Officials (SAO) which, too, contributed a lot towards the increase in overnight stays.

“Both the congress and the meetings (ABC2018-week and SDWG/SAO-week) lasted for five days each. The meeting days as well as those of preparations boosted the number of overnight stays,” Sallanmaa pointed out.

Kärkkäinen said she expects a further growth in the number of tourists in Rovaniemi in the upcoming winter. “We are expecting a five to 10 per cent growth in the number of tourists in the winter season this year.”

She also detailed out various cooperation between Visit Rovaniemi and different companies to increase the attraction of Rovaniemi as a tourist destination. “We have cooperation with more than 215 companies to attract more tourists. We have a number of ongoing programmes,” said Kärkkäinen, adding that although there are not many new things, all the programmes are different and related to the Lappish culture and lifestyle.