Outdoor Activities in Finland Trends and New Business Opportunities - A Cultural Orientation

A Presentation at C.O.M.U., Faculty of Econ. & Bus.Adm. Week 48, 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 km:s / a.: 36% : 31% : 18% : 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% condition of tracks: safety of tracks: facilities for equipment service: 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 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 euros in total income / a. Kauppila & Rämet (01) 44 years in ave. Families Vocational education White collar workers euros in total income / a.

Finns vs Foreigners 2 Resort oriented Come by own car With family Self planned trip Holiday / no particular reason 4+ nights 45 euros per night 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 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 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 somothing to sweat, or…

General Affect on Economy Better infrastructure, and better services, that also local population may use, and benefit from. Source: Kauppila (2004)

Useful sites Thank you for your attention, ladies and gentlemen !