SantaSport, SantaFood, SantaPark, Hotel Santa Claus, Santa Hair Centre: in the Finnish Arctic town of Rovaniemi Father Christmas is everywhere, milked to the max by local businesses.
”Christmas tourism is a magnet for investments,” says Tuula Rintala-Gardin, the head of tourism for the municipality of Rovaniemi, a town of 60 000 people built on the geographical Arctic Circle.
Since 1927 Finnish legend has it that Santa Claus, or Joulupukki as he is known here, lives in a cabin atop the nearby Korvatunturi mountain.
But it was only in the mid-1980s that Rovaniemi launched itself as the home of the ”real” Father Christmas.
The town has since fended off fierce competition from towns staking the same claim in Sweden, Norway, and Greenland, and appears to have emerged victorious.
Twenty years later, Santa now rakes in €235-million ($345-million) of direct and indirect revenue for the region of Lapland.
The windfall is crucial, as Rovaniemi suffers from high unemployment amid a population flight to more urban areas. People in the region live off the forestry and mining industries, reindeer herding and niche sectors such as Bombardier snowmobile production.
”Our strategy counts on almost double the number of tourists 10 years from now,” said Erkki Kautto, the director of business development at Rovaniemi city hall.
Rumour has it that city officials have tried to get the European Union to declare Rovaniemi ”the official home of Santa Claus”, though they have denied it, saying that with growth of 7% to 10% per year they have no need for such a title.
Santa Claus’ Village, open year-round, attracts about 340 000 visitors each year from Finland and abroad.
The site is made up of about 20 log cabins housing restaurants, cafes and souvenir shops, as well as the main attractions, Santa Claus’ Office and his official post office, which receives 500 000 letters and wishlists from around the globe each year.
”Twenty-five family businesses employ 60 people in full-time jobs and twice as many in winter, accumulating sales of €12-million,” said Jarmo Kariniemi, the owner of Santa Claus’ Office.
His business is profitable, he said, yielding sales of €2,5-million in 2008.
Inside, sitting on Santa’s knee is free but a picture or video taken with him costs €30 to €45. The gift shop also offers an assortment of products, including stuffed toy teddy bears or reindeer ”Made in China” sold for €25, €30 or €35 depending on the size.
The Santa goldmine enables Rovaniemi to finance part of its social benefits — costly in this town where one in five residents is over the age of 64 — and its development.
The town, razed by the Nazis in 1945, is growing and being modernised.
”This street was just redone, and this one will be done next year,” the head of regional development Juha Seppaelae said during a tour of the town.
Shopkeepers, hoteliers, restaurateurs, tourism agencies — all want a piece of the lucrative cake.
The local reindeer herders are no exception.
”I make 80% of my sales from tourism by showing my farm to visitors. The remaining 20% comes from sales of reindeer meat,” herder Sami Ruismaeki said.
But one group not getting their share is the Sami population, the indigenous people of the Arctic region.
Pekka Aikio, the speaker of the Sami Parliament, said Finland’s 7 000 Samis were ”benefitting very little from tourism”.
”The tour operators offer ceremonies with fake shamans. We have a label for our handicrafts, Sami Duodji, but foreigners buy cheap imported products,” he lamented. – AFP