Santa´s Holiday Village

SANTA´S HOLIDAY VILLAGE, ROVANIEMI

Services for travelers 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.

The 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.

During Inga and Marko’s time the company has expanded several times, and nowadays Santa´s Holiday Village is a dream come true for a traveller. In addition to souvenirs, they offer accommodation along with restaurant and programme services – the most important of them being the chance to meet Santa Claus every day of the year.

Versatile and modern services for the travellers

Although the years have passed, Santa´s Holiday Village shop is still the bedrock

of the company. They provide traditional Lappish products and souvenirs such as reindeer skins, Lappish mugs, high-quality postcards and t-shirts, and books and videos of Lapland, Santa Claus and Finland – not to forget original Lappish food. One extra nice thing that you can obtain in their shop is a genuine certificate of crossing the Arctic Circle.

All of Santa´s Holiday Village accommodation have been built in the 2010s, so satisfaction is fully guaranteed. Food experiences are provided by the new Three Elves Restaurant, the lobby bar at

the Reception and the café-restaurant at Joulutalo (Christmas House).

Christmas House is, as the name suggests, where the magic happens. You get to meet Santa Claus and get to know the miracles of Christmas, no matter how warm it is outside. You can invite Santa Claus for a private visit to your cabin and thereby delight your entire group in a big way. You can also ask Santa Claus to give everyone a personal gift during the visit.

TEXT Timo Tapaninen PHOTOS Santa´s Holiday Village