Marketing Kuusamo as part of Lapland sparks anger in Lapland itself

Opponents: Lapland brand under threat / Supporters: Central European tourists already see Kuusamo as part of Lapland

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“Kuusamo is not part of Lapland, because Lapland lies north of the Arctic Circle”, says Pertti Yliniemi, CEO of Lapland Hotels, the largest hotel enterprise in Finnish Lapland.
      “The people in Kuusamo have no right to use the name Lapland.”
     
Eight tourism entrepreneurs in the Ruka area have started using the brand St. Lapland in their marketing. Yliniemi is angered at the attempt to include Kuusamo, which is located in the eastern part of Finland, south of the old provincial border with Finnish Lapland, as being conceptually a part of Lapland.
      Most of the tourism entrepreneurs at the resorts of Levi, Olos, Saariselkä and Ylläs agree.
     
At the Kuusamo-based Nordic Holiday Services, CEO Matti Pohjola points out that the forest Sami inhabited Kuusamo in the 17th century.
      “Travellers from Central Europe already see Kuusamo as being inside Lapland, but many hear when they come here that the area is not administratively part of Lapland.”
     
According to Jussi Töyrylä, CEO of Levin Markkinointi, a company dedicated to promoting the Levi resort, referring to Kuusamo as a part of Lapland is tantamount to “rape of the Lapland brand, which has been painstakingly created”.
      Töyrylä calculates that the brand has helped create an annual turnover of EUR 180 million in the tourism industry in Kittilä alone, as well as 174 companies, who give work to 1,800 employees during the high season.
      “For us, Kuusamo is a competitor, not a partner”, Pertti Yliniemi insists.
     
The Regional Council of Lapland and various marketing organisations comprising enterprises and municipalities in Finnish Lapland, are preparing a proposal to increase cooperation. Under a proposal, Kuusamo could be seen as part of Lapland. A decision on the matter is expected in March.
      “Lapland would also benefit from having Kuusamo under its umbrella, because that way, it would be possible to get more resources for the marketing of Lapland. The directors of the Finnish Tourist Board also agree”, says Sanna Kortelainen, who chairs the board of Rovaniemi Travel and Marketing.
      Kortelainen says that most of the ten marketing companies in Finnish Lapland have approved of the plan.
     
In a new brochure put out by the Finnish aviation authority Finavia, Kuusamo is included within the borders of Finnish Lapland. The brochure seeks to promote the airports of Finnish Lapland, which include the airports of Ivalo, Kemi, Kittilä, Rovaniemi, Enontekiö, and Kuusamo.
      “What right does Finavia have to draw Kuusamo’s airport inside Lapland? The Regional Council of Lapland also cannot make decisions without listening to the travel business”, Yliniemi says.
      He feels that the Lapland brand is already suffering from misuse.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  What to do about Lapland? (10.1.2010)
  Tourism in Lapland more successful than anticipated (23.1.2009)

Links:
  Nordic Holiday Services
  Regional Council of Lapland

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