LAPLANDNEWS ROVANIEMI
SANTA´S HOLIDAY VILLAGE Services for travellers for more than six decades In the Arctic Circle, in Santa Claus Village, it is Christmas all year round. One of the destinations in the area that is open throughout the year is Santa´s Holiday Village, with its roots going back to 1969. At that time, the current CEO Inga Pokka-Jääskö’s parents Olavi and Hannele Pokka established a reindeer skin business, with the idea being to produce reindeer skins as souvenirs. TEXT Timo Tapaninen PHOTOS Santa´s Holiday Village
42
T
he Pokkas family expanded their activities from reindeer skins to other souvenirs and presents in 1977. Already then, the ten-yearold Inga was spending most of her spare time in the Arctic Circle. One of the pioneering businesses in Santa Claus Village has since grown to be a producer of versatile travel services. Change of the generation in 1994 The mid-1990s in Finland were a time of severe economic challenges. The Pokka family business modified their operations such that the parents, Olavi and Hannele, gave the souvenir business to their daughter Inga and her husband Marko Jääskö. Although times were tough, there was ample belief in the future and especially in the future of travel.
