"The tour operator connections and cooperation with agencies have been highly important," she explained. "Such milestones like Alitrip and Fliggy (Alibaba's online travel agency platforms) opening their tour productions to Europe and Rovaniemi with impressive launch campaigns in 2017, as well as mobile payment device launches by Alipay, straight from the Arctic Circle, were unforgettable global events and started a whole new era.
"This gave Rovaniemi a great boost that was prolonged by fantastic relationships with all our Chinese partners," she continued.
"Rovaniemi has great assets for tourism-Santa Claus (Santa Claus Village, Santa Park, Santa's Secret Forest), the Northern Lights (visible approximately 200 nights per year), Midnight Sun (one month of light hours as night disappears), snow and reindeer."
But the novel coronavirus has stalled that boom. Figures from Visit Roveniemi showed that only 23,200 Chinese overnights were registered in 2020, a significantly drop of nearly 60 percent year-on-year.
Despite the gloomy picture, Karkkainen is confident of a robust recovery, driven by the Chinese visitors, once the spread of the virus is contained, and international travel certificates are in place.
"We see China as a great potential once the tourism restrictions have eased up and accessibility works again," she added. "We count on the development work we've done with all the partners for years and the brand awareness of Rovaniemi gained with the Chinese markets. We remain waiting, with our hearts full of hope, for tourism to be reborn."
