The investment in meeting services has been substantial, with Lapland Hotels boasting about twenty venues across fells and cities. These locations offer ideal settings for both small gatherings of fewer than ten people and larger events accommodating up to 500 attendees. This diverse range of meeting facilities is available not only in Lapland Hotels’ city properties but also in key Lapland locations such as Olos, Pallas, Ylläs, Levi, Hetta, and Saariselkä.
Northern Finland had faced a scarcity of high-quality meeting services compared to the southern regions, prompting Lapland Hotels to focus on enhancing its offerings, especially in Lapland. The core of this meeting concept revolves around delivering exceptional service experiences and high-quality food products to ensure a memorable event for every guest.
– “The range of hotels suitable for meetings has been made more accessible to customers, and the experience is now uniform regardless of the location and latitude. The different settings of our locations allow for a rich selection of choice: for example, the atmosphere of the Arena hotel in Tampere is very different from that of the Bear’s Lodge hotel in Rovaniemi. In other words, our customers have access to a wide variety of venues to choose from to ensure the ideal location and setting for every occasion,” says Leena Turunen, Area General Manager at Lapland Hotels.
International business travelers are taking longer to come back, says Turunen. Nowadays, customers prioritize quality, excellent food, and service experience in meeting services. Service is the paramount factor in meetings and corporate events.
– “For several years now, we have invested in personal service, which means that each of our units or regions has its own sales service, for instance. The sales service provides the customer with a personal service and a designated service representative. Many operators offer good and functional meeting places, so a personal service is an important distinguishing factor.”
Meetings during the day are frequently held in southern regions, while those in Lapland typically involve staying overnight. Presently, the majority of meeting requests come from local clients. Turunen predicts that it will still be a while before international business clients return, although the industry is gradually recovering.
– “The post-coronavirus pandemic era and the general world situation affect the activity of international customers, and the delay is greater when compared to domestic customers. Northern experiences have become a very important differentiating factor for both domestic and international customers. Meetings can also be combined with our experiential services, including husky safaris as well as snowmobile, snowshoe and Northern Lights tours. Northern cuisine is also increasingly appreciated and seen as a source of pride. Northern Finland has the best air quality in the world, and it’s great to be able to say that our food is grown there,” Turunen says.
Over the years, the business travel sector has gained momentum alongside meetings. Currently, more than 40% of Lapland Hotels’ overnight guests are business travelers. While this figure has risen notably in recent years, it hasn’t yet reached pre-pandemic levels.
– “The biggest change can be seen in the rhythm of business and leisure travel. Previously, business travel commonly took place from Monday to Friday, and leisure travellers booked hotel rooms from Friday to Sunday. Now leisure travel takes place throughout the week and year, while business travellers tend to favour Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. The popularity of bleisure travel that combines work and leisure also continues to grow. Our concept, which is based on Nordic experiences, is well-suited to this trend,” Turunen says.
Tags: Helsinki to Kilpisjärvi, Hetta, Leena Turunen, Lapland Hotels, Levi, Meetings and corporate events, Olos, Pallas, Saariselkä, Ylläs
