Few can afford to travel to this cottage village – tourists can even be brought to Savo by helicopter
Wealthy tourists will soon be flown to Rantasalmi in South Savo, even directly to the gate of a holiday destination.
Eastern Finland is investing in luxury tourism.
In 2021, the Kuru Resort holiday village opened in Rantasalmi, next to the Järvisydämi spa hotel. In autumn 2023, Pihlas Resort opened its doors in the neighbouring municipality of Jorois. Joroinen Holiday Village has had a rocky start, having already had to deal with two bankruptcy petitions.
Soon there will be a new holiday destination in the lake landscape. Kotona Manor has been under construction for a couple of years in Asikkala, Rantasalmi. Kotona Manor has received €1.6 million in funding from the Environment Agency to promote the project.
According to Lehtonen, there are many reasons for the delay, but he does not comment more specifically. Nor did the entrepreneurs give Yle permission to photograph at the site.
At home, Manor’s donut -shaped main building looks almost ready from the outside. In the summer, interior work and landscaping are done at the site. Accommodation cottages on the beach are not yet erected.
The main building and the cottages accommodate 40 customers at a time. At home, Manor markets the destination for wealthy travelers who want peace but at the same time high quality service. For example, the host tailor the holiday plan on the customer’s wishes.
At home, Manor sells a three -day holiday as a basic package. Package prices owners do not want to reveal in the interview. However, something about purchasing power is that there is a place to land near the gate for a helicopter.
There is demand for several holiday villages
Viljakainen takes the resort at home with good pleasure. In his view, the Saimaa region and lake-Finland need to be marketed around the world as an area where there are alternatives for really wealthy. There is no competition setting between the objects.
– It is extremely great that such places are created. Pihlas and Järvisydän alone cannot increase the reputation of the area, says Viljakainen.
At home, Manor and Pihlas Resort’s CEOs hope that the state will wake up to help easier Eastern Finland, especially as demand for resorts is increasing.
– Companies are responsible for business. However, there are many things involved in tourism where the state level could play a greater role, such as marketing and infrastructure in the area, says Kimmo Lehtonen.
Coolcation alone does not bring tourists
Over the past year, Finnish tourism professionals have heard about the new phenomenon \”Coolcation\”. The name comes from the English word combination \”cool\” and \”holiday\”.
As an example, Pekka Viljakainen mentions that the Middle East has traveled to the heat of Northern Europe.
Markkola says that there is plenty of work to develop Finnish tourism. A trendy phenomenon or European terrifier of climate change does not automatically bring tourist flows to the ground.
– The Finnish tourism industry must focus on thinking about target groups, products and sales.
Markkola feels that new premium resorts in Eastern Finland bring more important more to Finland and are asked, as has been seen in Lapland. At the same time, he points out that other services in the area are important for the whole.
– Customer groups of these sites are really demanding. High -quality accommodation alone does not solve, but program offerings and other services have to go in line. In Eastern Finland, it has the opportunity to succeed.
