COMMENTARY: Are Lapland resorts pricing themselves into trouble?
|
By Jarmo Aaltonen
A café owner from Äkäslompolo, the village on the northern side of the Ylläs fell and ski-resort in Western Lapland, was complaining on a local radio station that the cheekiest of tourists drop into his establishment only to bum a bit of mustard to go with the sausage they have brought with them. Otherwise, he says, the skiing fraternity bring nothing to his café except the snow on their boots.
Another cafe proprietor from Iso-Ylläs (on the other side of the fell) grumbled that the constantly rising prices at the ski-resorts are taking the bread out of other entrepreneurs' mouths.
The steep prices at Ylläs, one of Finland's largest ski-resorts, are reflected in the observation that increasingly many Alpine and cross-country skiers are bringing their own food along with them, and heating it up at piste- or track-side fireplaces.
The ordinary family on a winter break now makes its basic meals at home before setting off, and then buys perishables and whatever else might be missing on the road, and no further north than the big supermarkets of Rovaniemi, where the price-level is still just about bearable.
This is not for lack of shops in the villages: Ylläs is a veritable heaven for two lucky store-owners. On the Äkäslompolo side there is Jouni's Store, and on the Ylläs side you can find Eeli's Store. Both enjoy a monopoly on the current consumer goods trade in the locality, and this shows in their prices.
Astonishingly enough, Eeli's Store managed to post a loss on their last year's trading - though this naturally did not deter them from distributing dividends to the owners.
The visitor to Lapland is fleeced at every slalom turn. In high season, a package on the overnight car-sleeper train from Helsinki to Kolari costs EUR 313 for a car and a standard 1 to 3-berth compartment, and around EUR 350 in the new double-decker twin-berth sleeper carriages. If instead you decide to drive all the way up, the trip will involve two or three tankfuls of gasoline, and filling up gets more expensive the further north you go.
The ski-resorts themselves are a chapter all of their own: with little or no effort, a family with two children can expect to pay EUR 500 a week on accommodation, and on top of that will come a bill for around EUR 420 for a week's lift-passes.
The piste restaurants and bars are not to be outdone in all this: a cup of coffee costs EUR 2.00, a large medium-strength draught beer will set you back EUR 4.50, hot cocoa spiked with the liqueur of your choice goes for EUR 8.20, a slice of pizza for EUR 4.50, a baked potato with garnish for EUR 5.50, a hamburger, chips, and a Coke for EUR 8.50, and should you wish for a Tex-Mex plate for two, it will cost you all of EUR 22.00!
This is not to say that the Laplanders have a monopoly on gouging. At Himos, near Jämsä [around 220 km north of Helsinki, and popular particularly with snowboarders], there are 21 runs and 13 lifts, with a vertical drop of 140 metres, and the longest slope is just under 1km.
In high season, an adult 5-day ticket to Himos costs EUR 121.00. This compares with EUR 126.00 in Les Trois Valleés in France, where they can at least boast 600 km of groomed slopes and 200 lifts!
While in Lapland, I have experienced Finland's most expensive restaurant food, at least in terms of the cost vs. quality ratio.
A plate of sautéed reindeer that is more mashed potato than reindeer can easily cost EUR 16.00.
A classified ad in Helsingin Sanomat not long ago was offering weekly rentals on a fully-furnished and equipped apartment with 2-5 rooms in Sorrento for EUR 330/week.
It is worth remembering that you can get to the Bay of Naples on cheap flights just as you can get to Kittilä in Lapland.
It requires a real streak of patriotism to swap a cheaper week in the Med, under the shadow of Vesuvius, for a holiday cottage in Lapland. Quite a few Finnish families will show their patriotic fervour over Easter, which is the best season for the northern ski-resorts.
Over the extended Easter weekend, the resorts have estimated that they take in around 15% of their annual revenue.
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 12.4.2006
The writer is a Helsingin Sanomat business & finance journalist
A café owner from Äkäslompolo, the village on the northern side of the Ylläs fell and ski-resort in Western Lapland, was complaining on a local radio station that the cheekiest of tourists drop into his establishment only to bum a bit of mustard to go with the sausage they have brought with them. Otherwise, he says, the skiing fraternity bring nothing to his café except the snow on their boots.
Another cafe proprietor from Iso-Ylläs (on the other side of the fell) grumbled that the constantly rising prices at the ski-resorts are taking the bread out of other entrepreneurs' mouths.
The steep prices at Ylläs, one of Finland's largest ski-resorts, are reflected in the observation that increasingly many Alpine and cross-country skiers are bringing their own food along with them, and heating it up at piste- or track-side fireplaces.
The ordinary family on a winter break now makes its basic meals at home before setting off, and then buys perishables and whatever else might be missing on the road, and no further north than the big supermarkets of Rovaniemi, where the price-level is still just about bearable.
This is not for lack of shops in the villages: Ylläs is a veritable heaven for two lucky store-owners. On the Äkäslompolo side there is Jouni's Store, and on the Ylläs side you can find Eeli's Store. Both enjoy a monopoly on the current consumer goods trade in the locality, and this shows in their prices.
Astonishingly enough, Eeli's Store managed to post a loss on their last year's trading - though this naturally did not deter them from distributing dividends to the owners.
The visitor to Lapland is fleeced at every slalom turn. In high season, a package on the overnight car-sleeper train from Helsinki to Kolari costs EUR 313 for a car and a standard 1 to 3-berth compartment, and around EUR 350 in the new double-decker twin-berth sleeper carriages. If instead you decide to drive all the way up, the trip will involve two or three tankfuls of gasoline, and filling up gets more expensive the further north you go.
The ski-resorts themselves are a chapter all of their own: with little or no effort, a family with two children can expect to pay EUR 500 a week on accommodation, and on top of that will come a bill for around EUR 420 for a week's lift-passes.
The piste restaurants and bars are not to be outdone in all this: a cup of coffee costs EUR 2.00, a large medium-strength draught beer will set you back EUR 4.50, hot cocoa spiked with the liqueur of your choice goes for EUR 8.20, a slice of pizza for EUR 4.50, a baked potato with garnish for EUR 5.50, a hamburger, chips, and a Coke for EUR 8.50, and should you wish for a Tex-Mex plate for two, it will cost you all of EUR 22.00!
This is not to say that the Laplanders have a monopoly on gouging. At Himos, near Jämsä [around 220 km north of Helsinki, and popular particularly with snowboarders], there are 21 runs and 13 lifts, with a vertical drop of 140 metres, and the longest slope is just under 1km.
In high season, an adult 5-day ticket to Himos costs EUR 121.00. This compares with EUR 126.00 in Les Trois Valleés in France, where they can at least boast 600 km of groomed slopes and 200 lifts!
While in Lapland, I have experienced Finland's most expensive restaurant food, at least in terms of the cost vs. quality ratio.
A plate of sautéed reindeer that is more mashed potato than reindeer can easily cost EUR 16.00.
A classified ad in Helsingin Sanomat not long ago was offering weekly rentals on a fully-furnished and equipped apartment with 2-5 rooms in Sorrento for EUR 330/week.
It is worth remembering that you can get to the Bay of Naples on cheap flights just as you can get to Kittilä in Lapland.
It requires a real streak of patriotism to swap a cheaper week in the Med, under the shadow of Vesuvius, for a holiday cottage in Lapland. Quite a few Finnish families will show their patriotic fervour over Easter, which is the best season for the northern ski-resorts.
Over the extended Easter weekend, the resorts have estimated that they take in around 15% of their annual revenue.
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 12.4.2006
The writer is a Helsingin Sanomat business & finance journalist
JARMO AALTONEN / Helsingin Sanomat
jarmo.aaltonen@hs.fi