Village to Village - A summer tourism project

The aim of the Lapland Tourism Strategy is to develop high-quality products valued by customers, particularly for the needs of international summer tourism. An ensemble of such service products is being created through combining the services of tourist resorts and villages located in the municipalities of Enontekiö, Kittilä, Kolari and Muonio and in the Pallas-Yllästunturi National Park.

The Village to Village summer tourism project has undergone a lengthy period of preparation, and funding for the Pallas-Ylläs Charter preparation project 2012–2013 (ERDF) has been confirmed.

Aim of the initiative

The objective is to create an easy-to-locate and easy-to-use network of accommodation, restaurant and other services around the Pallas-Yllästunturi National Park. As the volume of users increases, the aim is to direct an increasing percentage of overnight visitors to the services on offer in the nearby villages. An international model of village-to-village and service-to-service hiking and trekking is being introduced in the Pallas-Yllästunturi National Park. The elongated shape of the Pallas-Yllästunturi National Park and the location of villages and tourist services in the immediate vicinity of the national park make the service model feasible.

Cooperation between local entrepreneurs and the national park facilitates the marketing of the services and opportunities to the customer. For hikers, using the service network brings a new element of comfort to hiking, when it is no longer necessary to carry absolutely everything with you, including foodstuffs. The entrepreneur may even transport all your belongings to your next accommodation. So far, the opportunities available in Finland for European-style village-to-village hiking are few.

In a nutshell

• Well-marked and well-maintained trails lead hikers to the services offered by the cooperation partners.
• The sustainable hiking, cycling and canoeing routes and service structures of the national park ensure the preservation of nature even in the most actively used areas.
• The productisation and marketing of Village to Village summer tourism ensure that the customer finds his or her way to the accommodations, restaurants and other services offered in the immediate surroundings of the national park. 
• The villages and companies in the vicinity of the national park will all develop together with the most significant tourist attraction in the area. 
• Pallas-Yllästunturi National Park is about to join the European Charter for Sustainable Tourism programme, placing it alongside internationally significant nature tourism areas. The Charter is a EUROPARC Federation development programme, which over a period of 15 years has developed tourism in protected areas in Europe in cooperation with entrepreneurs.