Käsivarre believes in year-round tourism. A second year-round hotel is being built in Kilpisjärvi. In addition, plenty of accommodation has been built in the village in recent years.
The Santa’s Hotels chain has tried its wings in Kilpisjärvi in \u200b\u200bthe form of an apartment hotel. Santa’s Chalets Rakka has been operating there since 2016.
Now Aho is confident that there will be enough customers not only for the apartment hotel but also for a ‘real’ hotel. Santa’s Hotel Rakka is under construction, which will be completed in February 2023.
– We now have practically year-round use, and with that we have dared to invest in hotel rooms as well. There are quite a lot of one-day stayers here, when Finns go to visit Norway. They can stay here on the go. Then we have also worked hard to get customers from the international side.
Kilpisjärvi village now has two hotels, the traditional Kilpis during the season and the fresh Cahkal all year round. In addition, accommodation capacity can be found in numerous apartments, inns and cottage villages.
According to Aho, Kilpisjärvi has been a popular tourist destination during the corona pandemic.
– The seasons here are actually the opposite of what we have in other destinations in Lapland. The season here is actually summer, while elsewhere it is winter.
No new hotel projects – old ones get a \”facelift\”
Santa’s Hotels is not rushing into new investments after Kilpisjärvi. The priority is to recover from the corona pandemic, and old hotels are starting to need renovation.
– We are constantly calculating where it is worth making changes or renovations. Of course, hotels have to be renewed after a certain period of time. It could be that we are doing a little facelift at Santa’s Hotel Santa Claus in Rovaniemi, we’ll see.
Aho says that there are still interesting destinations in Lapland, such as Levi, where Santa’s Hotels does not yet have its own hotel.
– But we have hotels in slightly smaller places. There are different people who like to come and travel there.
Regarding next winter, Aho says he is cautiously positive.
– There has been really good demand there, although we lack Asians and Australians. And of course the Russians will be absent for many years. However, we have received enough replacement trade that I am looking forward to winter with a very positive attitude.
– It is very gratifying that there are direct flights to Lapland. Of course, we believe that individual customers will come from there. They are very welcome.