Rovaniemi tourism company in trouble – mayor proposes 280 000 euro funding

Tourists at the Visit Rovaniemi office in Rovaniemi. — Visit Rovaniemi is a hive of activity, especially during the Christmas-March period.

The background to this is the Procurement Act, which should have put tourism services out to tender. The city also decides on any tendering.

The Rovaniemi City Council on Monday discussed the funding of the tourism marketing company Visit Rovaniemi.

At the same time, an agreement would be reached to continue the company’s operations at its current level until June.

Visit Rovaniemi is facing a cash crunch and adjustment measures in the middle of the tourist season, as the City of Rovaniemi has been unable to conclude a new service contract since the beginning of this year without competitive tendering.

At Monday’s meeting, the city government will also deal with the proposal on tendering services. The competition process is estimated to last 4–6 months. The expected value of the acquisition is 2.24 million euros.

The Finnish Competition and Consumer Authority (KKV) stated last year that Rovaniemi neglected the tendering obligation under the Procurement Act when it procured services from Visit Rovaniemi.

Through its company, the city owns 51 percent of Visit Rovaniemi. The remaining 49 percent is owned by Visit Rovaniemi’s partner companies, of which there are more than 200.

A woman watches the mood of Santa Claus' village from the log bridge. — Visit Rovaniemi’s CEO is Sanna Kärkkäinen. On a typical December day, she gives 5-8 interviews to various media.

The company has a role to play in promoting responsibility

According to the city’s press release, the capitalization would ensure the operation of Visit Rovaniemi in the middle of the busy tourist season at the beginning of the year.

One option is not to grant funding to Visit Rovaniemi. It could, however, also have an impact on the company’s ability to offer services in the tenders made by Rovaniemi.

In addition to marketing, Visit Rovaniemi also provides tourist advice.

In addition to the marketing benefits of Visit Rovaniemi, the reasons for the mayor’s presentation emphasize the importance of the company in terms of responsibility, which has risen to \”great value\” in the opinion of both tourists and locals.

– Visit Rovaniemi plays a significant role as a promoter of responsibility issues, as a communicator and also in the development of socially sustainable tourism, the justification of the presentation text states.

According to the city of Rovaniemi’s estimate, Rovaniemi’s tourism income is 300–500 million euros annually. The city receives almost five million euros in tax revenue from tourism. In addition, the indirect effects are significant for many sectors, such as the construction industry.