Development of Creative Tourism Attractions in Rovaniemi City to Enhance Tourist Experiences

Abstract

The tourist attractions implement creative tourism activities by integrating traditional cultures, allowing local hosts and visitors to exchange knowledge, experiences, and skills through engaging participation in tourism activities offered by attractions. Rovaniemi plays a significant role as a major tourism destination in Finland that promotes the local cultures and tourist activities incorporated in tourism products and services. This research combine with a qualitative approach was conducted by semi-structured interviews to gather data from 4 participants in public and private organisations to characterise the development of creative tourism attractions and activities in Rovaniemi City, and a quantitative approach was implemented to acquire data through questionnaires from 226 tourists to understand their perceptions on creative tourism attractions’ development and activities in Rovaniemi City. The research showed Rovaniemi possesses distinctive natural and cultural assets that can be potential to develop creative tourism, particularly in nature-based activities. However, the incorporation of active activities in arts, crafts, and design, gastronomy, sports, and digital technologies for creating tourist experiences remains limited, showing merely passive engagement and retail oriented. Stakeholders also suggest that Rovaniemi needs an effective collaboration with local communities, and application of practical marketing strategies to target creative tourists. Furthermore, tourists express their strong interests to engage with local creative attractions and activities, suggesting that developing and promoting in arts, crafts, design, gastronomy, and sports alongside nature-based could significantly enhance their travel experiences and potentially contribute sustainable benefits to locals.