Tourism

Rovaniemi’s big hotel projects have been dug out of the ice as tourism recovers. A new addition is a spa hotel to be built in the Arctic Circle. Tower hotels are also planned for the center.

Lapland’s Christmas tourism is breaking records this year and it increases faith in the future after difficult years. Several large hotel projects in Rovaniemi have now moved forward.

In this story, we present four hotel plans that are already well into the design process and can be realized in the next few years.

However, the construction of new hotels is not completely uncomplicated.

For example, in the case of tower hotels planned for the center, there has been a discussion about whether tall buildings are suitable for the center of Rovaniemi at all. The city architect would like more trees instead of concrete in the city center.

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It is hoped that the \”Tampere effect\” will attract new tourists to Rovaniemi – these are the city’s four largest new hotel projectsRead More »

The handling of animals and animal parks have changed drastically since the days when you could get in for four marks and run the business with the income.

Jaakola had visited animal parks in Sweden and started thinking about Finland’s first wild animal park in Ähtäri.

The plans were big from the beginning, and it was decided to immediately build a campsite, accommodation and a hotel in the area.

Ähtäri was not the only small municipality that had to try to survive in Finland’s restructuring. When the tourist attraction began to attract tourists to Ähtäri in droves after opening, many other municipalities also started planning an animal park.

– Fortunately, animal parks require a permit, and in most cases those projects then failed.

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Ähtäri came up with an idea 50 years ago that the locals opposed, but many municipalities tried to imitateRead More »

Metsähallitus has adopted a new payment method for the sledge safari permits for the winter season 2022–2023. Companies can now enter into an agreement with Metsähallitus for a safari-specific payment.

Kuusamo’s program service company Ruka Safaris safari center operates in the Rukajärvi area and has to use a 2.5 kilometer company route leased from Metsähallitus for its sled safaris.

Maijanen is also indignant that Metsähallitus has practically dictated Ruka Safaris’ new contract. The previous agreement was made in the 90s.

– At Metsähallitus, someone has taken an introductory course in economics, and they remembered that a monopoly sets prices, he uploads.

According to Maijanen, Metsähallitus uses a dictation policy and pricing cannot be negotiated.

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Safari companies operating on leased lands are worried about additional costs of tens of tons – Metsähallitus has a new payment policy for this winterRead More »

The opening of the lake tourism center will be celebrated next May. It will be built on the Kuopio passenger harbor breakwater.

The lake tourism center being built in Kuopio has been named. The center will be opened to the breakwater of the passenger harbor next spring.

The lake tourism center will have a shared sauna and restaurant building, as well as a so-called safari house, where you can rent equipment for various activities.

The lake tourism center is being built by Isompi Visio Oy. The company does not say how much it will cost to build the lake tourism center.

On three days, the departure time of the flights will be moved half an hour later than the original schedule. In this way, they correspond better to the schedule of connecting flights in Europe.

Kajaani’s flight schedules will change from tomorrow, i.e. from the beginning of December.

Finnair changes the flight schedules to better match the schedule of connecting flights in Europe.

In the future, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday flights will depart from Helsinki to Kajaani at 10:30 a.m. and from Kajaani to Helsinki at 12:10 p.m.

Moving the flight departure time half an hour later than the original schedule will shorten the waiting time of passengers departing from Kajaani for Finnair’s afternoon connecting flight abroad.

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Kajaani’s flight schedules will change from the beginning of DecemberRead More »

The number of hotels has halved in North Karelia in the 21st century. The number of hotels in Pohjois Savo has also decreased. Hotels do best in provincial centers and tourist destinations.

There are half as many hotels in North Karelia as at the turn of the millennium; 21, while in 2000 there were still 41. In the regional center Joensuu, the number of hotels has halved from 12 to six.

In the neighboring province of Pohjois-Savo, the direction is the same, but gentler. There are 29 hotels, compared to 33 in 2000. Two hotels have closed in the city center. Nowadays, half of the hotels in the Savoia region, i.e. 14, are located in Kuopio.

– Small hotels and hotels in small towns are decreasing. Hotels tend to concentrate in larger cities, Moisander states.

Hotels have become rarer, especially outside the provincial centers.

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The campsite was for sale in an online auction, the base price was 499,750 euros. The parish of Lieksa did not receive any offers, even though they extended the sale period. The area is currently rented to an entrepreneur.

The extension of the sale period did not bring any offers for the Koli campsite on the shore of Pielinen.

The parish of Lieksa sold the almost five-hectare Merilänranta campsite since October. The base price in the online auction was half a million euros.

The deadline for submission of bids expired on Friday evening. The extension did not produce results either, even though the sales announcement had been viewed more than 11,000 times on the last day.

The previous sales companies of the area located in Loma-Koli have been bored by a disagreement about the price.

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No one was ready to pay half a million euros for a campsite at Loma-Koli on the beach of PielinenRead More »

According to entrepreneur Juhani Eiramo, this winter has already been lost since the hotel has not been able to be marketed. The site should not be opened without guidance services, and the necessary permits will take a while.

In addition, there are two luxury igloos and nine keloigloos in the area. The first part of the plan, which originally cost more than 30 million euros, has now been completed. However, something essential is missing from the Hulp framework.

– The hotel has not been able to open because activity permits for the snowmobile and ATV trails have not been obtained, says Jussi Eiramo.

Eiramo criticizes the Finnish bureaucracy. In the permit processing, statements are requested from various parties such as the municipality, paliskunn, Sámi assemblies and the ely center.

– We used to fight with reindeer men, but not anymore. We have a good communication with the parish councils and there have been no problems from their side, says Eiramo.

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The entrepreneur’s years-long dream of a new tourist building is finally coming true.

The construction of the new tourist center on Pulkkilanharju, which has been planned for years, is about to begin.

Summer restaurant Reimari has been demolished. The slope site requires major earthmoving works for the new building, and they are underway. After that, the foundations of the new tourist building will be made.

The building, which imitates the contours of the terrain, is erected from CLT elements. A restaurant and accommodation for a few dozen people are coming to the site.

Eskola has been planning a new building on Reimari’s place for about fifteen years.

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Pulkkilanharju’s old summer restaurant has been demolished – a new tourist center is coming to Reimari’s placeRead More »

Central Finnish companies in particular are happy about the continuation of scheduled flights, because they help shorten work trips.

The scheduled flights between Jyväskylä and Helsinki, which were on hiatus, will resume on Monday. The flights are operated by Finnair, which won the state tender.

The agreement on state-subsidized regional flights has been signed until the end of July next year. After this, the organization of provincial flights is still a question mark.

Finnair said in September that it has no intention of returning to commercial operations on the five provincial routes.

Finnair has said that it will continue the provincial groves only for the duration of the government purchase service agreement. The contract has an option for the continuation of purchase traffic until the end of March 2024, but the funding decision will be made by the next government.

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Flights between Jyväskylä and Helsinki will start after the break on MondayRead More »