II. Main Cultural products 6. Arts and Crafts Section 6.1: Lappish Arts and Crafts

6.1.4. Santa Claus and Presents

"Mummy, look! This is snow! Mother, behold, this is snow!” excitedly cried out a young British tourist on his arrival to Rovaniemi, and immediately began reaching out to collect some snow in his hands. Everyone wants to meet Santa Claus and everybody wants gifts, therefore Lapland has tourism and handicrafts at the heart of its entrepreneurship.

For the craft-workers in Lapland, tourism brings in the largest revenue. Tourism is the largest industry in Lapland, and the importance of craft work as a source of income is significantly higher than the average in Finland. Tourism in Lapland has a long history and souvenirs were made for the visitors already in the 19^th century. The production of Lapp dolls has a history of over one hundred years. These dolls became very popular as souvenirs in the 1920’s. When tourism grew in the 1960s, Lapland goods became Finland’s most popular souvenir type and were called the “goods of Lapland” in the trade. Lapland goods were selling to both international, as well as domestic tourists, and the goods were available all over Finland. The production of the goods of Lapland was primarily focused in Rovaniemi, but goods were also produced in other parts of Finland. The committee that deliberated in the 1940’s about the production of souvenirs decided that the production of souvenirs should at least be made in Rovaniemi to preserve the original sense of Lapland." (Heikkilä, Kyläniemi 2004).

In Lapland the real Lappish products are competing with handicrafts and industrial goods made in mass produced low-cost labor countries. Up to 70% of the revenue of souvenir-, gift item- and design sale come from imported products. To compete with cheap imports, it is important that the domestic products maintain their quality of development, planning and design. "But do not forget the most fundamental starting point, which is the fact that the handicraft is skillfully manufactured in the course of time to suit our own needs, without considering the demands of tourism. Whether it is from the backland northern peasant culture or the Sami herding culture the importance of beauty has been the main objective. Specific conditions of producing utility articles are due to the scarcity of the northern climates. The survival strategy has been able to adapt and respect the conditions set by nature." Source: Jaana Moona, Lapland Union.

The materials used in making of the Lappish artefacts have been mainly wood, bone, wool and other textiles, leather, valuable metals, ceramics, and berries and herbs. The vision that the Lappish arts and crafts entrepreneurs state for the future is that the business will become more profitable with annual growth of three per cent. The quality of the products requires adapting new technologies in design and making and sustainability when utilising traditions. In 2004, there were 294 small businesses in Lapland employing 331 people producing unique Lappish arts and crafts.

The annual turnover was estimated to be 38.75 million euros.

Popular Lapland products can also be purchased online. The most popular of all is a letter from Santa. Santa can send a letter to anywhere in the world. if you would like to ask for a letter, please send it to the following address:

The subject of a real Christmas has been discussed and studied for many years, and its “content production” has proved to be a controversial subject for both Finnish and foreign experts. The Santa Park Experience Cave was built during the late 1990s in the Syväsenvaara mountain on the Polar Circle near the Rovaniemi Airport. The design was made mainly to please the wishes of the British family visitors. But the popularity of the attraction waned rapidly during the first year of operation. It lost its main capital investors, for example, Finnair, and fell heavily into debt. The Finnish theme park’s success depends also on adequate domestic attendance, and simply to rely on foreign customers' demand is not enough to make a successful tourist attraction in Finland. Santa Park is now making a comeback with the help of new designers, and it will also have a major role among other tourist centres to promote Lappish arts and crafts to the visitors.

Santa Claus’ connection with Korvatunturi and Lapland began in the 1920s, when a very popular radio person Uncle Mark told stories about Santa to Finnish children on the radio. Since then the idea of the Christmas Wonderland began to influence strongly the developing Lappish Christmas products. One of the key persons in the project was also a famous radio person Niilo Tarvajärvi, who had visited Disneyland in California during the late 1950’s. On his return to Finland, he tried to encourage Finnish companies and politicians to take on a Christmas wonderland idea. Tarvajärvi had calculated that if every citizen in the country was to donate one Finnish mark, he could set up a Santa Claus Wonderland - an attraction in Lapland that would be as successful as Disneyland. The Christmas wonderland was established and the government gave money to the project, but the company crashed and ran into allegations of fraud, and Tarvajärvi found himself under investigation. "Did you believe in fairy tales when you were in court on charges of fraud during this Christmas wonderland mess?” asked the editor of the Helsingin Sanomat newspaper. "I had not the slightest doubt, because in all good fairy tales there are also difficulties," replied Tarvajärvi. ( HS Viikkoliite, 19.12.1996). When Tarvajärvi was aged 82, he was as happy as a little boy when being a guest of the new Santa Claus Office being opened in the Arctic Circle. The previous Santa’s cottage opening was completed in haste fifty years earlier, when the then U.S. president's spouse Eleanor Roosevelt visited the Arctic Circle.

Santa Claus is reflected in the marketing and product development of Lapland and also in Sami traditions in Lapland. Santa Claus is an ancient product, but his family has no roots in Sami tradition.

6.1.3. Is Lapland Open Today?

6.1.5. Sustainable Cultural Tourism