Locals in the capital of the Finnish Lapland are furious as the city becomes overrun with tourists.
Rovaniemi proudly calls itself the official hometown of Santa Claus, and it is this status that has seen the number of visitors soar during the Christmas period.
But rather than welcoming the tourism surge, some of those who live in the city have bemoaned the number of people reaching Rovaniemi.
Antti Pakkanen, a photographer and campaigner in the city, told Euronews: « We are worried about the overgrowth of tourism. Tourism has grown so rapidly, it’s not anymore in control. »
But Polish tourist Elzbieta Nazaruk said she was delighted to visit Rovaniemi.
She said: “This is like my dream came true. I’m really excited to be here.”
Joy, from Bangkok, added: “It’s Christmas time and we would love to see the Northern Lights. Rovaniemi seems to be a good place.”
Rovaniemi’s Santa Claus Village theme park welcomes 600,000 visitors each year, but most of the demand comes around the Christmas period.
Attractions there include taking a reindeer sleigh ride, an ice bar, and a meeting with Santa himself.
Visit Rovaniemi CEO Sanna Karkkainen said that the Nordic nations are now a « trend », adding: “People want to travel to cool countries to see the snow, to see the Northern Lights, and, of course, to see Santa Claus. »
Locals in Rovaniemi’s city centre say that tourists take up many apartment buildings as holiday rentals when they reach the destination, meaning people from the town can’t rent them.
Meanwhile, short-term rentals are also driving up prices and hurting the pockets of locals.
Finnish law prohibits professional accommodation services in buildings intended for residential use.
But Ms Pakkanen says: “The rules must be enforced better. »
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