No room at the inn? Locals say holiday rentals are overtaking Santa Claus’ hometown
Arctic Circle locals say vacationers are overrunning the large man’s hometown.
Shuffling throughout icy floor on a chilly December afternoon, vacationers pour into Santa Claus Village, a winter-themed amusement park perched on the sting of the Arctic Circle.
They frolic within the snow, take a reindeer sleigh experience, sip a cocktail in an ice bar and even meet Saint Nick himself within the capital of Finnish Lapland, Rovaniemi, which fortunately calls itself the “official hometown of Santa Claus.”
The Santa Claus Village theme park, which attracts greater than 600,000 individuals yearly, is very common in the course of the vacation season.
“That is like my dream got here true,” beams Polish customer Elzbieta Nazaruk. “I’m actually excited to be right here.”
However some locals do not share within the festive cheer, saying residential houses are being changed by vacationer leases, echoing complaints round Europe about ovetourism.
Overtourism: Rovaniemi’s inhabitants will increase ten fold at Christmas
Tourism is booming in Rovaniemi, with lodge and restaurant homeowners, in addition to metropolis officers, cashing in on the cash it brings to the city. Nevertheless, not everyone seems to be glad concerning the onslaught of holiday makers, 10 occasions the city’s inhabitants, every year at Christmas time.
“We’re frightened concerning the overgrowth of tourism. Tourism has grown so quickly, it’s not anymore in management,” mentioned 43-year-old Antti Pakkanen, a photographer and member of a housing community that in September organized a rally by means of town’s streets.
It’s a sense that’s shared in different common European journey locations, together with Barcelona, Amsterdam, Malaga and Florence.
Over the previous couple of years, locals have protested towards overtourism in more and more vocal methods. Sunbeds had been vandalised in Tenerife with slogans akin to “The Canary Islands aren’t on the market”. Whereas faeces had been smeared on lockboxes in Seville, typically used on the doorways of Airbnbs to permit self check-in.
Overtourism typically describes the tipping level at which guests and their money cease benefiting residents and as a substitute trigger hurt by degrading historic websites, overwhelming infrastructure and making life markedly tougher for many who reside there.
Now, it appears to have unfold north, all the best way to the sides of the Arctic Circle.
Rovaniemi counted a report 1.2 million in a single day guests in 2023, virtually 30 per cent development on 2022, after rebounding from pandemic journey disruptions.
“Nordic is a development,” Go to Rovaniemi CEO Sanna Karkkainen mentioned as she stood in an ice restaurant, with snow carvers working close by.
“Folks wish to journey to chill international locations to see the snow, to see the Northern Lights, and, after all, to see Santa Claus,” she added.
Extra flights however not sufficient inns
13 new flight routes to Rovaniemi Airport opened this yr, bringing passengers from Geneva, Berlin, Bordeaux and extra. Most vacationers come from European international locations like France, Germany and the UK, however Rovaniemi’s attraction has additionally unfold additional.
Lodge availability is scarce this winter, and Tiina Määttä, normal supervisor of the 159-room Authentic Sokos Lodge, expects 2024 to interrupt extra information.
Locals cannot discover housing
Native critics of mass tourism say many condo buildings in Rovaniemi’s metropolis centre are used as vacationer lodging throughout peak season, which means they’re now not accessible for residential use. They are saying the proliferation of short-term leases has pushed up costs, squeezed out long-term residents, and turned its metropolis centre right into a “transient house for vacationers.”
Finnish legislation prohibits skilled lodging companies in buildings supposed for residential use, so campaigners are calling on authorities to behave.
“The principles have to be enforced higher,” mentioned Pakkanen.
Not everybody agrees. Mayor Ulla-Kirsikka Vainio notes some make “good cash” on short-term leases.
Both means, stricter rules doubtless gained’t be in place for this winter season, and regardless of the unease expressed by locals, mass tourism to Rovaniemi might be solely going to develop in 2025 – as guests wish to expertise the distinctive environment up north, particularly in the course of the vacation season.
“It’s Christmas time and we’d like to see the Northern Lights,” says Pleasure, a customer from Bangkok. “Rovaniemi appears to be place.”
