Santa Claus and Arctic Lapland rally charm jury in tourism marketing competition in France.
Rovaniemi won the prize for Best Event Planning Strategy in the European Tourism Stars competition held in Rueil-Malmaison outside Paris, France on Friday 5th June. The judges were impressed by Rovaniemi’s arctic exoticism presented in the form of Santa Claus and Arctic Lapland Rally competition.
“We clearly communicated our strengths as a destination. The 50-year-old Arctic Lapland Rally is a unique event and even quite astonishing in terms of functionality,” says Managing Director Sanna Karkkainen of Visit Rovaniemi.
The competition was part of the Tourism & Strategy festival. The marketing competition attracted several top European destinations from 21 countries, including St. Tropez, Budapest, St. Petersburg and Zagreb.
“The interest towards Rovaniemi was overwhelming during the event. This award is a great recognition for our work in tourism marketing,” says Esko Lotvonen, Mayor of Rovaniemi, also present at the event.
The winners were chosen by a jury consisting of professionals in the tourism and film industries as well as business leaders. The jury was led by French actress Elsa Zylberstein.
“There were several well-known French personalities in the jury, which led to a great amount of media coverage. Around 30 cities competed in the event category, making the win quite a performance,” says Sanna Tuononen, Visit Finland marketing representative in France.
Vicky is the co-founder of TravelDailyNews Media Network where she is the Editor-in Chief. She is also responsible for the daily operation and the financial policy. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Tourism Business Administration from the Technical University of Athens and a Master in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Wales.
She has many years of both academic and industrial experience within the travel industry. She has written/edited numerous articles in various tourism magazines.
