Aug22136 33. Most Influential Destination Marketing Organisation CEO 2024: Sanna Kärkkäinen Visit Rovaniemi With vast experience gained over many years, Sanna Kärkkäinen stands out as a leader in her field. Responsible for ensuring the increase in tourism to Rovaniemi, Finland, it’s no surprise that she recently gained notable recognition in the European CEO of the Year Awards for the part she has played in putting the official hometown of Santa Claus firmly on the map! Owned by the City of Rovaniemi and 230 tourism companies, Visit Rovaniemi is a destination marketing organisation in Lapland, Finland. In charge of brand marketing and communications for Rovaniemi, the official hometown of Santa Claus, the firm serves its stakeholders by offering joint marketing operations, working closely with global tourism markets, media, and airlines in Europe, US, Singapore, UK, Asia and the Middle East. So far this year, Visit Rovaniemi has reached new records with direct route flights to Rovaniemi (now 24 routes for the winter season). In 2025 it is estimated that this amount will rise to more than 40, meaning the town is more connected than ever before. Sanna Kärkkäinen is CEO of the company and is directly responsible for all airline negotiations (accessibility) as well as international marketing and communications, along with her team of eight specialists. She tells us more: “Together with the tourism ecosystem of Rovaniemi, we have created fascinating success story of winter tourism. Now, our biggest aim is to focus on the summer/autumn season for creating more year-round tourism and developing the sustainability and responsibility of tourism.” Sanna has worked as CEO in various companies in the tourism industry throughout her career, with the majority of her roles being in Destination Marketing Organisations, and she believes this to be her core competence. “I’m a developer, visionary, innovator, and networker with business knowledge,” she says, describing her leadership style. “Within Visit Rovaniemi, we are a relatively small team, but everyone is highly motivated and dedicated to do their best in their specialised positions. As a CEO, my main task is to support and encourage them to reach our common goals, whether they are small- or long-term missions. With my team at Visit Rovaniemi, we not only try to reach the stars, but we actually do!” As well as record-breaking flight successes, this year has been just as fruitful for both Sanna and the firm. In January 2024, Sanna was selected as the Tourism Person of the Year in Finland by The Finnish Guild of Travel Journalists – an award which is given annually for an active, developing expert in the tourism industry. At the same time, Visit Rovaniemi was awarded Tourism Destination of the Year by The Finnish Tourism Association. “We are passionate with our brand (Rovaniemi - The Official Hometown of Santa Claus), love what we do, and we act agile,” Sanna elaborates, hinting at the strategy employed to put the town on the map. “All of us in the Visit Rovaniemi team have inspiring and positive attitudes and follow our values of authenticity, giving, creativity, and a constant presence. It’s the trust and respect we build our projects on. We act proactively and like to keep one step ahead.” Lately, the Nordics have become an increasingly trendy destination to visit yearround, with the region’s values and naturefocused lifestyle appealing to many markets globally. Lapland in particular has a lot to offer as it is a magical destination during the festive season, however Sanna and her team are keen to attract more tourists for the rest of the year too. Although, there are concerns for Visit Finland’s funding as its marketing budget is threatened with reduction. “Visit Finland national level marketing Budget cuts threaten not only the national level, but they also would increase the costs and responsibility of destination and regional marketing, for which we are not prepared,” Sanna states, speaking of the issues faced. “Strengthening Finland’s competitive advantage requires all stakeholders.” Other challenges that Sanna and the team have faced include strong growth from Asian markets during the period 2016-2020, as well as the sudden and brutal full stop of all the markets due to the coronavirus pandemic of 2020-2022. A record fast recovery for the winter tourism season 2023-2024 helped ease the pressure, however, and the unprecedented opening of air travel from the point of view of new airlines and flight routes has led to the strongest growth in history of Lapland tourism in 2024 and 2025. “It’s been ups and downs, but mainly ups!” Sanna enthuses. “The agility of Rovaniemi’s tourism ecosystem has been preserved and the willingness to cooperate is strong. The destination’s success factor is a network of strong, professional entrepreneurs.” Recently, as a reflection of her dedication and diligence to the brand, Sanna Kärkkäinen received the prestigious accolade of Most Influential Destination Marketing Organisation CEO 2024 in the European CEO of the Year Awards – Something she is extremely proud of. Now, as the future beckons, further growth for the region is predicted and it is thought the summer season will continue to grow and balance the gap. “The year 2024 to 2025 will be a year when the rules and guidelines of responsibility and sustainability are elevated for the whole ecosystem in Rovaniemi within and the Sustainable Travel Finland programme,” Sanna states. “The path is nearly complete, and the next step of continuous development of sustainability begins!” Contact: Sanna Kärkkäinen Company: Visit Rovaniemi Web Address: www.visitrovaniemi.fi
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