Another centre to be built in Ruka – the Saarua area will grow significantly in the coming years

The first modular hotel will be completed by next Christmas. The entire pedestrian village will take 5-10 years to complete.

In addition to West Ruka, another centre is being built in Saaruaa, East Ruka. Like West Ruka, it is planned to be a so-called car-free pedestrian village.

The first step will be to start construction of the apartment hotel next summer.

– The modular apartments are built almost prefabricated in the factory and are stacked on top of each other in Ruka, so all you have to do is put a roof on top,” Aho says.

The area is also planned to build another hotel, the Safari Center, which provides adventure services, the skating area and four saunas in the Saaruanlampi area.

According to Rukakeskus, the construction of the Saarua walking village will take five to ten years.

Soon 30 000 beds in Ruka

Most of the apartments in the Saarua village are implemented with a Ski-Inin model, which has already implemented more than 600 apartments in Ruka and Pyhä. Ski-In is a ownership model based on renting an apartment for tourist use when the owner does not use it.

Free -owned apartments and wools will also be built in the village of Saarua, which the owner can rent if he so wishes.

Overall, about 1,500 new beds born to Saarua village are estimated to come to Ski-Nin apartments, 500 new hotels and 300 other holiday homes.

– Currently, Ruka has a shortage of accommodation, especially during the winter season. New accommodation facilities give Ruka the opportunity to grow in tourism, says Ville Aho.

In addition to the plans of Rukakeskus, Ruka’s accommodation capacity is also increasing in Rukankylä, Länsi-Ruka, where the Osuuskauppa Arina is designing a major hotel.

The Ruka area currently has an estimated 28,000 beds, of which 4,800 are commercially available in hotels and apartments. There are 3,100 beds in rental cottages.