EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

While our results for the summer of 2022 were not quite on a par with the exceptionally strong previous summer, we nevertheless achieved a better result than in 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic. From the autumn onwards, our turnover developed favourably both in Lapland and in our urban destinations.

The past financial year was the first period free of all COVID-19 restrictions, and this was reflected in customer behaviour. Our customers are also making increasingly extensive use of our services. For example, we saw good growth in the use of equipment rental services and ski schools at our ski resorts. We were particularly pleased to note that domestic tourism remains popular, and its popularity stayed high throughout the winter season. The volume of domestic travel was maintained in spite of consumer purchasing power being eroded by inflation.

We can be especially satisfied with not only our excellent turnover growth of 27 per cent but also our strong customer satisfaction across all of our business areas. Having been at an excellent level for a long time, it has continued to improve further. The Net Promoter Score among our hotel customers, for example, exceeds the average score of international hotels by a significant margin. Our employee satisfaction also improved slightly and was at a good level. The figures show that our customers and personnel genuinely enjoy their time with us!

We further developed our sustainability programme

Lapland Safaris, a pioneer in providing experience services in the tourism sector in Lapland, celebrated its 40th anniversary during the period under review. In connection with this, the company’s long-serving chief executive, Jyrki Niva, left his role in operating activities, and Rami Korhonen was promoted to the position of chief executive from within the company’s ranks. At the end of the past ski season, Lapland Ski Resort Ounasvaara was selected as the Local Ski Resort of the Year.

We also made progress on our sustainability programme, which is a high priority for us. Nearly all of our units were awarded the Sustainable Travel Finland environmental label. We have also made significant progress with reducing our carbon footprint over the past few years. In addition to the environment, the key elements of our sustainability programme include being local and looking after the well-being of our personnel.

The pre-booking situation for next winter looks good

The biggest challenge over the past year was again the availability of personnel. While we were not able to recruit quite the number of personnel we aimed for, our recruitment activities were more successful than in the tourism sector as a whole on average. Inflation increased the prices of raw materials and energy, but these had a limited impact on our operations. This was due to factors such as the contents of our purchase agreements, fixed energy prices and successful adjustments to raw material choices in our restaurant operations.

We enter the new financial year and upcoming winter season in positive spirits: the pre-booking situation for our destinations in Lapland looks even better than last year.

During the new financial year, we will focus significantly on developing our online store and website. We will also move forward with the planning and projectisation of our major hotel project in Valionranta, Rovaniemi. The plans for the hotel include over 250 rooms, conference facilities and a spa. We are also exploring other expansion projects.

We want to take this opportunity to thank all of our personnel, customers and partners for the past financial year.

Pertti Yliniemi
Chair of the Board
Lapland Hotels & Lapland Safaris