North Savo wants a new tourism marketing company - to raise the profile of the region to the level of Lapland

Puijo tower in autumn and the city of Kuopio can be seen in the background — Kuopio Puijo is one of the best-known tourist attractions in northern Savo.

The regional marketing company aims to quintuple the number of overnight stays by foreign tourists in Pohjois-Savo by the end of the decade.

The number of international tourists in North Savo has not developed as favourably as in other tourist areas in Finland. Foreigners account for only about 10% of tourists in the province, and the number of Russian tourists is unlikely to return to pre-Korona and pre-Russian war levels for a decade.

Tourism businesses are now looking to Central Europe, and initially to German-speaking countries in particular. Their own resources alone are not enough to launch international marketing and relationship-building activities. That is why a North Savo Tourism Ltd is being set up, with both companies and municipalities in the region as shareholders.

Pictured is Pekka Vihma — Pekka Vihma believes in the tourism appeal of North Savo.

More than a hundred tourism companies have expressed their willingness to participate in further negotiations on the new company. These include Kuopio-Tahko Markkinointi Oy, Osuuskauppa Peeässä, Puijo Peak Oy, Skione Group Oy and Tahkocom Oy. In addition, 16 municipalities in North Savo had decided by mid-September to participate in further negotiations. None of the municipalities has opposed the project.

– Tourism services are the same services that also attract us residents, i.e. they are also leisure services for our residents.

Kirsi Soininen talks about the marketing of the area. — – Tourism in North Savo now has the momentum to either grow or slowly wither away, says Kirsi Soininen, Marketing Director of the City of Kuopio.

Currently, the discussion is mainly about whether the new Pohjois-Savo Matkailu Oy will be a company- or municipality-led organization. However, both are needed for the new company to reach its goals.

– The realistic goal is to increase the number of international overnight stays fivefold by the end of the decade. The willpower is now strong. I would not like to see the option that this (company) would not be created, Soininen says.