The new group aims to combine tourism businesses across Finland and Norway – creating new possibilities for international sales, cross-border itineraries and year-round Arctic travel.
A significant new tourism group is taking shape in the North.
Ilkka Länkinen and Katja Ikäheimo-Länkinen, the entrepreneurs behind SantaPark Arctic World in Rovaniemi, are joining forces with Norwegian Arctic Resorts. As part of the arrangement, they will become the largest private shareholders in the group.
The Finnish portfolio includes Arctic TreeHouse Hotel, SantaPark Arctic World, Santa Claus Secret Forest – Joulukka, Rakas Restaurant, Lapland Luxury DMC and the new Aino Private Island Hotel.
Together, the businesses involved generated approximately €63 million in revenue and welcomed around 350,000 guests last year.
But the numbers are only part of the story.
From an international travel trade perspective, the geography makes the development particularly interesting.
The group will be able to connect products in Finnish Lapland and Northern Norway within one broader portfolio.
That opens up opportunities to combine two complementary Arctic regions: Lapland’s forests, winter landscapes and established activity products with Northern Norway’s fjords, coastline and maritime experiences.
For international tour operators, this could make cross-border Arctic itineraries easier to develop and potentially easier to contract.
Instead of looking at Finland and Norway purely as separate destination products, they can increasingly become components of one northern journey.
There is another strategic angle to the partnership: seasonality.
Northern Norway has built a strong summer tourism product, while Rovaniemi and Finnish Lapland continue to develop their potential outside the winter peak.
Combining this experience with international sales networks and a broader product portfolio could help strengthen summer and autumn travel alongside the already established winter season.
This is particularly relevant as Nordic destinations look for ways to spread visitor demand more evenly throughout the year.
The development also points towards a broader shift in northern tourism.
Travellers do not necessarily think in national tourism structures. A compelling itinerary might include forests in Finland, fells along the border and fjords in Norway.
For tour operators, however, building such programmes can become complex when contracting, accommodation, activities and ground services are spread across different partners and countries.
Larger cross-border tourism structures could make those combinations easier to bring to international markets.
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