North Calotte #21 – Rovaniemi (travel in Finland, Sápmi, Lapland, arctic europe)

Playlist with all episodes:    • Travel in Finland, Sweden, Norway, No...  
Rovaniemi is the major central hub in northern Finland with a university, art, culture, and various institutions. The population has increased over the last 50 years, and the city now has approximately 63,000 residents.
Until the mid-1980s, Rovaniemi was an unknown place outside Finland, but with new ideas and effective marketing, especially in the United Kingdom initially, everything changed. From having closed hotels during the winter months, Rovaniemi became an internationally renowned winter destination with direct flights from London with the Concorde.
The world's epicenter of the Santa Claus industry is now here. Santa no longer needs to fly with his reindeer, instead families come on direct flights to Santa, who lives just 5 minutes from the airport. Santa Claus Village typically receives over 500,000 visitors per year according to Visit Rovaniemi's website, and 90,000 if you choose figures from the Barent's Observer. This year, in 2023, more direct flights are expected to Rovaniemi than before, and Santa's marketing department has been working hard:
This year, Coca Cola launched its international winter campaign here, and Rovaniemi has been trademarked in the EU as "The Official Hometown of Santa Claus."
And Rovaniemi is said to have won something called the World Luxury Travel Awards in the Christmas Destination category. There are 213 different categories, and registering your company for the competition costs £550, and if you win, you have the opportunity to purchase a World Luxury Travel Awards Deluxe Package for £700, shipping included. Congratulations to Rovaniemi!
There are two main attractions to choose from: Santa Claus Village and Santa Park, but whichever you choose, you can rest assured: you can cross the Arctic Circle, pay for a picture with Santa, and buy goodies.
And if you happen to end up in the city of Rovaniemi itself instead of one of the two Santa destinations, don't despair too much. There's a Santa here too, and various brand stores.
A quote from Visit Rovaniemi's website: "Your magical journey here at the Arctic Circle, Lapland, Finland is guided by the values of authenticity, giving, creativity, and constant presence." End quote.
Already 20 years ago, I heard that European travel agencies praised Finnish companies for their professionalism but lamented that Finnish Lapland was over-commercialized.
In 2019, a giant plan was presented to build the Republic of Santa Claus theme park in Rovaniemi with the aim of attracting 10 million annual visitors. There was talk of investments of one billion euros and 10,000 employees. And then the pandemic hit. Republic of Santa Claus now has a simple website and a Facebook page with the latest update from over four years ago, dated back to November 12, 2019. There's also a concluded crowdfunding campaign that attracted four backers totaling $720 USD.