Outdoor Activities in Finland
Trends and New Business
Opportunities A Cultural Orientation
A Presentation at I.U.T.,
Cherbourg, France
Week 6, a.d. 2007
Ismo Koponen, Mr
Oulu Polytechnic- University of
Applied Sciences
???
• What are the three things that you like
doing outdoors ?
• What are the three things that you need for
practicing your activity ?
• What are the three benefits you get from
your favourite activity ?
Outdoor activities in Finland 1
• Ski’ing in winter at about -25 d:s C.
• Most important findings of the ”Track 2000
Research Project” concucted by
• Ervasti, Pertti & Koponen, Ismo
• - in Kuusamo, Finland
• - n = 635 surveyees
Skiers classified
•
- 100 km:s / a.: 36%
• 101 - 300:
31%
• 301 - 500:
18%
• 500 - :
15%
Ski’ing requires driving !
• 36,9% of the answerers traveled up to 800
km:s to reach the ski’ing resort, and
• another 21,4% up to 200 km:s
Reasons for coming
• Previous experiences with the place: 36,1%
• Part time residence in the area i.e.
ownership of or relationship to an owner of
a cabin etc.: 29,8%
• 77% of answerers had previous experiences
of the resort
Time, money & equipment
• 37% up to 5 days
• 63% more than, and
• 67% up to 500 euros, and
• 33% more than
• 97% of skiers use own gear
Customer Satisfaction (1-4)
• In general (3-4): males: 95,5%, and
•
females: 95,7%
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•
•
•
condition of tracks: 3 - 4
safety of tracks: 3 - 4
facilities for equipment service: 2 - 3
ski schools: 2 - 3
Customer Satisfaction (cont.)
• Co-incidently the more important services
will still have to be improved, while less
important ones exceed the expectations.
• Can a change in the Finnish ’ski-ing culture’
be predicted ? Please, see previous slide …
Five Factors Found
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•
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Services directly related to ski’ing
Services related to after-ski’ing
Safety oriented, active, ski’ing
Ski’ing as an ’addiction’
Ski’ing as an excuse for taking a break
• Segmentation and product positioning !
According to recent media:
• ”Finns do not tolerate cold climates very
well”.
• ”The Dutch are the best in Europe, in this
aspect”.
• Reasons to this ’development’ are in our
• housing, clothing, commuting, and working
conditions, and in indoor activities !
Outdoor activities in Finland 2
• Hiking in summer at about +25 d:s C.
• Most important findings of the research
project of
• ”Summer visitors and their usage of
money”, by Kauppila P & Rämet J, and
• ”Tourism resorts as fore runners of regional
development”, by Kauppila P
Finns vs Foreigners 1
•
•
•
•
•
42 years in ave.
Families
Vocational education
Blue collar workers
35 - 45.000 euros in
total income / a.
Kauppila & Rämet (01)
•
•
•
•
•
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44 years in ave.
Families
Vocational education
White collar workers
45 - 55.000 euros in
total income / a.
Finns vs Foreigners 2
•
•
•
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•
•
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Resort oriented
Come by own car
With family
Self planned trip
Holiday / no particular
reason
4+ nights
45 euros per night
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
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On a round trip
Use public transport:n
With spouse
Self planned trip
Holiday / no particular
reason
7+ nights
40 euros per night
Emerging Trends 1
•
•
•
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Summer activities (where is the business?):
- Mountain and down-hill cykling
- Nordic walking
- Swamp soccer
• From cheap to expensive equipment, and
• from free to cheap environment
Emerging Trends 2
•
•
•
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Winter activities (where is the business?):
- Nordic walking
- Snow shoe walking
- Winter swimming
• Cheap equipment (see ad), and
• free infrastructure
Environmental Issues
• A snow mobile based on ’traditional’
• 2-stroke engine technology pollutes 1500X
the amount a modern family car (e.g. an
Audi A4) does
• Mind your manners ! Save energy - use
your own !
• Do something to sweat, or…
General Affect on Economy
• Better infrastructure, and
• better services,
• that also local population may use, and
benefit from.
Source: Kauppila (2004)
• Cherbourg and the military forces, in this
aspect ?
Useful sites
• www.kuusamo.fi
• www.ruka.fi
• Thank you for your attention, ladies and
• gentlemen !
• ikoponen@oamk.fi