Lapland hotels are so expensive that the airline drove its employees from Rovaniemi to Oulu to sleep

The cost of a hotel night in Lapland in December was almost double the national average.

Rovaniemi’s hotels are so full and the prices are so reasonable during the high season that, for example, foreign airline staff have been transported as far as Haukiputaa in Oulu, a couple of hundred kilometres away.

The Rovaniemi-Haukipudas journey is the same as if those flying to Helsinki Airport were to sleep in Joutsa.

– In Rovaniemi, most of the season’s accommodation is sold even a year in advance.

According to Kärkkäinen, these are individual cases.

Twice as expensive in Lapland

According to Statistics Finland, the hotel night in Lapland cost almost twice the national average in December. The accommodation in Lapland was paid an average of 282 euros per night, while in Uusimaa, for example, the room got 119 euros.

Rovaniemi’s mid -December prices are not yet available in Statistics Finland, but a year earlier, the average price of December was almost € 350 per night and prices have risen in Lapland. In Kittilä, for example, the average price of December has risen by 13 % and in Inari by 15 %.

Rovaniemi has several hotel projects, but they progress slowly. For example, several complaints have been made about a large tower hotel plan.

Expensive season extended

Increased tourism and expensive hotels in Rovaniemi also influence, for example, commuting and organizing events. The local people are widely known that at least new events should not be organized as a winter season.

He has noticed that the expensive and lively season is extended and nowadays lasts from November to March.

\”Guests will not get through travel presentations if the hotel pays 400-500 euros per night,\” he says.

Contract prices in use

Rovaniemi is the office of Lapland, so public administration, such as the state, municipalities, well -being and parishes, have needs to stay in the city.

However, they have contract prices, which also apply during the high season.

Lappset, a manufacturer of play equipment for international markets from Rovaniemi, brings guests to the city. The company also has locations elsewhere in Finland and will stay in Rovaniemi during their commuting.

He says that there is an attempt to arrange visits outside the fierce season. The aim is to book the trips well in advance.

\”Of course, many of our foreign guests want to come to experience the exoticism of Lapland during the winter,\” he says.