Developing domestic summer tourism towards Lapland through understanding customer perception

Abstract

While Finnish Lapland’s winter season has established itself as a popular tourism destination, the region’s summer months have yet to achieve similar success. This research aims to identify strategies for promoting growth in summer tourism through domestic travel, with the ultimate goal of developing the social, economic, and ecological sustainability of Finnish Lapland. The core premise is that increasing domestic tourism during the summer months could also serve as a foundation for strengthening the region’s summer seasons international appeal.

The research was done through semi-structured interviews with residents of southern Finland who are fairly unfamiliar with Finnish Lapland’s summer offerings and are not frequent visitors. The data gathered was analysed using thematic analysis, with these findings finally interpreted through the Theory of Planned Behaviour. This method was aimed to identify the issues and perceptions that potential domestic visitors may have, when considering travel to Finnish Lapland during the summer season.

The findings reveal that common obstacles for domestic travellers include the perceived distance to Lapland and the prevailing perception of the region as primarily a hiking destination during summer. Additionally, the existing land-based travel options were often regarded as outdated and insufficient.

A limitation of the study is the limited number of respondents and the focus on a single segment of potential visitors. Nonetheless, the results provide valuable insights for the future development of regional marketing strategies and highlight areas for further research.