Largest Finnish skiing centres to invest EUR 500 million in facilities

Levi and Ylläs upgrading ageing lift systems

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The ski resorts of Northern Finland are in direct competition with each other over the upgrade of their facilities. The six largest centres will spend a total of EUR 580 million on investments by 2010.
     
At the popular ski centre of Ruka in Kuusamo, a large underground car park will be built for some 300 cars. The concrete roof of the parking lot will be braced with a 60-ton steel structure, and a high-class aparthotel will be built on the top of the building. The marketing name of the new aprtment h-otel is Ruka Village. Later on, more apartments will be built next to the hotel.
     
The construction of the car park is the largest individual investment that has been made in the history of the Kuusamo municipality - nearly EUR 10 million. It will turn the car-free Ruka into a holiday resort that attracts foreign travellers.
      In addition to accommodation and restaurants, new ski lifts and equipment rental shops will be built.
      During the upcoming season, the Finnish ski centres will use as much as EUR 40 million for this purpose, which will be an all-time record. Even last year’s investments reached a higher than average sum of EUR 15 million.
      "The most impressive developments will be made at the ski resorts of Levi and Ylläs, which are Finland’s most extensive ski areas. Both resorts will have gondola lifts installed, in addition to several modern chair lifts. At Ruka, the new superfast lifts have already been completed, while Tahko (north of Kuopio) will build three new lifts and Himos (near Jämsä) one”, reports Sari Tollet, the Executive Director of the Finnish Ski Area Association.
     
At Ruka alone, a total of EUR 85 million will be invested in hotels, restaurants and other facilities by 2010. The investments for Levi and Ylläs will be larger still. The Finnish retailing cooperative, the S-Group, is building a new hotel at Levi, with a budget of EUR 50 million.
      The aim of both Ylläs and Levi is to overtake Ruka as the largest ski resort in Finland.
      "The investments are realistic, being based on the growing number of foreign tourists. As a result of climate change, many travellers are looking at choosing Lapland instead of the Alps", notes Osmo Virranniemi, the CEO of Iso-Ylläs ski resort.
      The northern ski resorts are particularly popular among the British and even the French, who have their own Alps close at hand.
      "British travel organisers are already competing about the free weeks and accommodation, as the demand is so high", reports Jouni Palosaari, the CEO of the Levi Ski Resort.
     
The atmosphere is similar to that before the recession of the 1990s, when splendid hotels were financed in Lapland with loan capital, and many of them ended up facing financial problems, and bankruptcy.
      "The present situation is completely different, as Lappi is seen as a safe investment. Moreover, money is available with long terms of payment and low interest rates, while twenty years ago, it was possible to get only short-term foreign currency loans", Virranniemi says confidently.
      "In addition, many ski centres have managed to restore their financial stability", argues Ilkka Suutarinen, the CEO of Vuokatinrinteet Oy. The company operates slopes at Vuokatti and Tahko, with huge investments under way in both resorts.
      The current investment programme at Tahko will amount to around EUR 100 million, while Vuokatti’s investments will swallow up some EUR 60 million.
      Currently, even many southern ski centres are investing in new lifts and accommodation.
     
According to the statistics gathered by Statistics Finland, a total of 23,456 French tourists visited Lapland over the period from March 2006 to March 2007, which indicates a growth of 9.4 per cent compared with the previous year.
      The second largest group was that of British tourists, with a total number of 15,083. The figure shows an increase of 22 per cent. The number of German travellers was 13,862, up by 11.2 per cent. The number of Dutch tourists was 8,212 with an increase year-on-year of as much as 29.7 per cent.
      The increase in the number of Russian tourists was huge - 95 per cent from the previous year. A total of 6,175 Russian tourists were recorded in Lapland’s accommodation establishments over this period. The number of Americans was 1,378, which shows an increase of 117 per cent, albeit from a very low level.
      The Finns themselves continue to hold the number one position, with 206,803 visitors and growth of 9 per cent.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Record warm December in Finland (3.1.2007)

Links:
  Finnish Ski Area Association

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