PRESS RELEASE

ROVANIEMI History Although the outlook of Rovaniemi is a very modern one, the history of the region stretches back some 8000 years. For thousands of years Rovaniemi was just a stopping place for hunters, fishermen and tradesmen who exported mainly furs from north to south. Rovaniemi was permanently settled in the 11 th to 12th centuries and at the turn of the 19th century Rovaniemi began to grow into the administrative, cultural and commercial centre of the Province of Lapland. The modern outlook of the town is due to the Second World War. During the war Rovaniemi was totally destroyed, only few houses survived in the town centre. The reconstruction work was started in 1946 according to town plan designed by the most famous Finnish architect, Alvar Aalto. Some of the most remarkable buildings in Rovaniemi, the Lappia-house, the library and the Town Hall, are all designed by him.

Today The central location of Rovaniemi at the confluence of two major rivers has made it a natural centre for Finnish Lapland. The longest river in Finland, Kemijoki, connected the town to the sea. The construction of roads started in the mid-19th century and in the beginning of the 20th century the railway connection was opened. Today Rovaniemi has a busy and well-operating international airport, too. More than 400 000 passengers pass through Rovaniemi airport annually. In the past few decades Rovaniemi has grown into a busy and active town. The population of Rovaniemi region is about 60 000 of which 52 000 live in the town itself. In Rovaniemi, 3 percent of the population earn their living from primary production, 14 percent from processing and construction. The vast majority of 82 percent are employed by public or private services. The majority of people working with the services are employed either by the government or by the City of Rovaniemi. The number of jobs in the public sector has decreased during the past decades, and this means new challenges for the whole region. One of the fastest developing economical areas is tourism. Since 1920's tourism has played a significant role in developing the town. In the early days events like Rovaniemi Market brought people from all over Finland and northern Scandinavia to Rovaniemi. The main reason for coming to the Market was trading although many other events took place at the same time. Quite a few songs and films have been made about Rovaniemi Market, not to mention the numerous legends and stories connected to lumberjacks and gold miners. Rovaniemi Market is still held three times a year. Nowadays some of the main yearly events attracting visitors to Rovaniemi are Arctic Lapland Rally, Reindeer Sprint Race, Ounasvaara winter sports events, Jutajaiset Folklore Festival and various festivities at Christmas time.

Highlights Rovaniemi forms a unique combination of town services and surrounding Lappish nature. The main attractions in Rovaniemi are the Arctic Circle, Santa Claus, Santa Claus Village, SantaPark, Ounasvaara Sports and Skiing Centre with its beautiful 18-hole golf course, Arktikum museum and science centre, Pilke Science Centre, Korundi House of Culture and Ranua Wildlife Park. Rovaniemi museums bring out the area’s richness in tradition. Rovaniemi Local History Museum has quite a pleasant country atmosphere close to town. Lapland Forestry Museum is an outdoor museum presenting the life of a forest worker and a lumberjack. The Local History Museum and the Forestry Museum are open in summer. Rovaniemi’s most significant exhibition entity and museum is Arktikum. Arktikum’s special and one of a kind building with its glass corridor is a sight in itself. The building was designed by Danish architects BirchBonderup & Thorup-Waade and was opened December 6, 1992. Arktikum hosts exhibitions both of the Arctic Centre specialising in arctic peoples, nature and culture and of the Lapland Provincial Museum displaying the history of Rovaniemi and the Sami. The Guild of Finnish Travel Journalists awarded Arktikum in 1994 for being the best tourist attraction in Finland. The European Council awarded the Provincial Museum of Lapland for the display of Lappish culture. Arktikum is visited by approx. 80 000 visitors yearly. Pilke Science Centre tells through all five human senses about the sustainable use of northern forests. It was opened in June 2011. Korundi House of Culture, opened in May 2011 houses Rovaniemi Art Museum and Chamber Orchestra of Lapland with its first permanent space. The Jenny and Antti Wihuri Foundation collection of Finnish art as well as changing exhibitions are on display at Rovaniemi Art Museum.

Tourism Tourism is growing strongly in Rovaniemi region. Over half a million tourists visit Rovaniemi each year. The unique location of Rovaniemi on the Arctic Circle has attracted visitors from all over the world. In 2011, the amount of registered overnights in Rovaniemi region exceeded 492 400 of which approximately 55 % were international. Most of the international tourists visiting Rovaniemi came from Russia, Germany, France and Great Britain. The busiest tourist season is winter from November till April and the winter season counts for about 60 percent of the total number of visitors. Economically the winter season is even more significant. Christmas tourism has shown significant growth in the last years. During Christmas season, most tourists come to Rovaniemi on direct charter flights. In December 2011, about 72,000 tourists came to Rovaniemi, either on charter flights or via Helsinki. The share of Christmas flights in the total international passenger traffic is 62 %. The biggest attraction is Santa Claus, but the growth of Christmas tourism is largely based on the Christmas programmes offered by the area’s activity services as well as the Christmas season events in Rovaniemi. 184 different medias visited Rovaniemi in 2011. In addition to the individual attraction factors the growth of tourism in Rovaniemi region has been based on the first-rate activity services. In winter the most popular activities along with skiing are snowmobiling, reindeer and husky dog safaris and winter driving schools. In summer the riverboat cruises to various points of interest are on top of the list.

The economic importance of tourism has grown in Rovaniemi region. The direct income of tourism in 2010 was 162 million euros, of which 20 million euros during Christmas season. In 2010 employment in Rovaniemi tourism industry was more than 1089 manpower years.

Rovaniemi - The Conference Destination in Lapland International conference & tourism town Rovaniemi has pioneered incentive travel business in Lapland in 1980’s and is today highly desired MICEdestination. The number of registered overnight stays reached 492,400 in 2011 (business 27 %, leisure 72 %). Traffic connections Rovaniemi is reachable easily from Europe year round thanks to the fluent flight connections. There are five return flights from Helsinki daily (Finnair, Norwegian). Many rail connections from Helsinki make Rovaniemi reachable for those who prefer to travel more green. The most comfortable train connection is the night train with fully fitted sleeping cabins. Main conference venues University of Lapland is ideal for scientific congresses due to the versatile meeting facilities, e.g. Fellman Hall 326 seats, Luentosali Hall II 94 seats, Luentosali Hall III 120 seats, Esko ja Asko Hall 160 seats (sound and picture connection available between halls) and numerous workgroup and reception spaces. Lappi Areena is multipurpose venue and mainly used for larger corporate and association meetings. Capacity of Lappi Areena is 3500 seats. Recently opened Culture House Korundi with 340 seats can be used specially for corporate and association meetings and product launches. Hotel capacity in the town centre There are 7 hotels in Rovaniemi city centre. Two of which are four stars and five of which are three stars. The most popular MICE –hotels are Santa’s Hotel Santa Claus, CityHotel and Hotel Pohjanhovi. The capacity of hotels in town centre and its immediate vicinity is approximately 3200 beds. PCO services Rovaniemi Congresses is the official PCO office of the town of Rovaniemi and it is specialised in organizing corporate and association meetings and pre & post congress tours in Rovaniemi and entire Lapland. Rovaniemi Congresses has established expertise in arranging scientific congresses in co-operation with the University of Lapland.

International scientific congresses (FCB statistics 2011) The number of international scientific congresses organized in Rovaniemi was 15 events in 2011. The main venue for scientific congresses is University of Lapland. Unique ancillary services Santamus is a world-renowned once-in-a-lifetime experience restaurant where the visitor can sense a change in the way of thinking. Capacity 150 persons. Joulukka is Santa’s secret command centre where visitor can experience a cosy Christmas spirit throughout the year (Christmas themed experience activities and a charter restaurant). Capacity 140 persons. SantaPark is the Home Cavern of Santa Claus and it is suitable for a wide variety of private functions such as gala dinners, themed evening parties, product launches and seminars. Capacity 1500 persons. Arctic Snow Hotel, located 25km from Rovaniemi city centre, is versatile and individual lifetime experience destination built entirely from snow and ice (hotel, restaurant, chapel, sauna). Capacity 40-200 persons (restaurant), 120 persons (hotel).

ARCTIC CIRCLE AND SANTA CLAUS Tourism at the Arctic Circle started in summer of 1950, when Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt visited Rovaniemi. A small log cabin was built to honour her visit, and year by year this cabin became a more and more popular stopping point for those travelling to the north. Today this historical log cabin is open as a museum. The main buildings of Santa Claus Village were completed 1985 – 1996. Today ca. 25 companies operate at Santa Claus Village, the combined turnover of which is about € 11 million. Santa Claus is in his office at Santa Claus Village every day of the year. Letters and cards posted in Santa Claus Main Post Office will be stamped with a special stamp of Santa Claus and Arctic Circle. Santa Claus’ home cave SantaPark was opened in 1998 in the vicinity of Santa Claus Village. SantaPark offers something for everyone such as gingerbread baking, sled ride, elf school, elf workshop, ice gallery, hut cafe, post office, Santapark show, shopping arcade and Santa’s workshop. Santa Claus Village receives nearly half a million visitors from all over the world. Christmas and winter tourism has grown strongly in Rovaniemi but summer is still a very important season for Rovaniemi and Santa Claus Village. The actual Christmas tourism to Rovaniemi and Lapland got its start in 1984, when the first British Airways’ Concorde landed in Rovaniemi bringing 100 British Christmas guests.

The Official Hometown of Santa Claus No one really knows where Santa Claus comes from or how old he is. Several countries and cultures claim to have the origin of Santa Claus but here in Finland, as in many other parts of the world, we are convinced that Santa lives in Finnish Lapland. The tradition of Santa Claus most probably comes from Saint Nicholas who lived in Minor Asia in the 4th century. Saint Nicholas was very well-known for his charity work. He was also the protector of children and seafarers. Children in Finland have always believed that Santa Claus lives in Korvatunturi, which is a small and remote mountain in Finnish Lapland. The name "Korvatunturi" can be translated as "the Ear Mountain". The form of the mountain reminds the shape of an ear and in the 1920's a very popular radio presenter Mr. Markus Rautio convinced the children in Finland that Santa Claus lives in the "Ear Mountain" and thus he can hear all the children's wishes. Due to the remoteness of Korvatunturi the children could not visit Santa Claus so he decided to have his main post-office and his "second" home at the Arctic Circle. Children in Finland have had an old tradition to send their Christmas wishes to Santa Claus somewhere in Lapland. In the 1950's lumberjacks working in northern Finland started to answer these letters during their pastime. In the 1970's the Finnish Tourist Board got interested in these letters and started the first organized Santa Claus mailing service. In 1994 Santa Claus received 216 000 letters from 150 countries. In 2011 the amount of letters was more than 600 000 from 200 countries, mostly from Great Britain, Romania, Italy, Poland, Japan and Finland.

More information Rovaniemi Tourism & Marketing Ltd. Lordi's Square, Maakuntakatu 29-31, 96200 ROVANIEMI, FINLAND Tel. +358-(0)16 346 270, Email: [email protected] Internet: www.visitrovaniemi.fi www.facebook.com/VisitRovaniemi.fi www.twitter.com/VisitRovaniemi www.youtube.com/user/RovaniemiOfficial pinterest.com/visitrovaniemi/