Santa Park is an amusement park

Amusement park

thumb|Cinderella Castle in [[Magic Kingdom]], [[Disney World]]Amusement and theme parks are terms for a group of entertainment attractions and rides and other events in a location for the enjoyment of large numbers of people...

 and visitor attraction near Rovaniemi

Rovaniemi

Rovaniemi is a city and municipality of Finland. It is the administrative capital and commercial centre of Finland's northernmost province, Lapland. It is situated close to the Arctic Circle and is between the hills of Ounasvaara and Korkalovaara, at the confluence of the Kemijoki River and its...

 in the Lapland region of Finland

Finland

Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...

.

Theme

The park is designed to emulate the cavern residence of Santa Claus

Santa Claus

Santa Claus is a folklore figure in various cultures who distributes gifts to children, normally on Christmas Eve. Each name is a variation of Saint Nicholas, but refers to Santa Claus...

 on the Arctic circle

Arctic Circle

The Arctic Circle is one of the five major circles of latitude that mark maps of the Earth. For Epoch 2011, it is the parallel of latitude that runs north of the Equator....

. Popular culture often depicts Santa Claus

Santa Claus

Santa Claus is a folklore figure in various cultures who distributes gifts to children, normally on Christmas Eve. Each name is a variation of Saint Nicholas, but refers to Santa Claus...

 (or joulupukki

Joulupukki

Joulupukki is a Finnish Christmas figure. The name Joulupukki literally means Christmas Goat or Yule Goat. The Finnish word "pukki" comes from the Swedish "bock" and is an old Scandinavian tradition...

in Finnish) coming from Lapland. Therefore, tourists come every year to Rovaniemi to meet Santa Claus.

History and the business concept

Santa Park was opened on 28 November 1998 as an amusement park. The concept was created by Santaworld Ltd. (UK) and the cost of construction was 6,7 million Euros. The ownership consisted of Finnish companies such as Finnair, MTV, Sampo, Lasten Päivän Säätiö, Posti. Ministry of trade and industry was also involved. As an amusement park Santa Park did not reach its economical goals. Renewal of the concept was attempted in 2002 with a new ownership structure where the municipality of Rovaniemi

Rovaniemi

Rovaniemi is a city and municipality of Finland. It is the administrative capital and commercial centre of Finland's northernmost province, Lapland. It is situated close to the Arctic Circle and is between the hills of Ounasvaara and Korkalovaara, at the confluence of the Kemijoki River and its...

 was involved. The new concept featured Santa Claus, Christmas

Christmas

Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...

 and Lappish culture and nature. On 24 March 2009 ownership was transferred to Santa's Holding Ltd. where the majority is held by Mr. Ilkka Länkinen and Mrs. Katja Länkinen-Ikäheimonen.

Attractions

The attractions of Santa Park include

• Elf Show
• Santa's Workshop
• Gingerbread
  Gingerbread
  Gingerbread is a term used to describe a variety of sweet food products, which can range from a soft, moist loaf cake to something close to a ginger biscuit. What they have in common are the predominant flavors of ginger and a tendency to use honey or molasses rather than just sugar...
  
   Kitchen
• Sleigh Ride
• Elf School
• Elf Workshop
• Post Office

A shopping arcade and Lappish cafe also serve visitors.

Architecture

The structure is located in a huge man-made cavern inside bedrock where visitors descend via an impressive portal.

Location and transportation

Santa Park can be easily reached by car along the national highway 4. It is located about 9 km northeast of Rovaniemi and about 2 km from Rovaniemi Airport

Rovaniemi Airport

Rovaniemi Airport is the fifth biggest airport in Finland by annual number of passengers, located in Rovaniemi, Finland, about north of Rovaniemi city centre. The Arctic Circle crosses the runway closer to its northern end.- History :...

. Frequent flight to Rovaniemi are offered throughout the year to Rovaniemi from Helsinki and other cities. The majority of international tourist switch their plane in Helsinki-Vantaa airport. Also in the Christmas

Christmas

Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...

 time there are many charter

Charter

A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified...

 flights from Sweden

Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

, UK and other countries that fly directly to Rovaniemi. Also there is Ryanair

Ryanair

Ryanair is an Irish low-cost airline. Its head office is at Dublin Airport and its primary operational bases at Dublin Airport and London Stansted Airport....

 flights to Tampere

Tampere

Tampere is a city in southern Finland. It is the most populous inland city in any of the Nordic countries. The city has a population of , growing to approximately 300,000 people in the conurbation and over 340,000 in the metropolitan area. Tampere is the third most-populous municipality in...

 which also has regular connection to Rovaniemi

Rovaniemi

Rovaniemi is a city and municipality of Finland. It is the administrative capital and commercial centre of Finland's northernmost province, Lapland. It is situated close to the Arctic Circle and is between the hills of Ounasvaara and Korkalovaara, at the confluence of the Kemijoki River and its...

. There is also a regular bus

Bus

A bus is a road vehicle designed to carry passengers. Buses can have a capacity as high as 300 passengers. The most common type of bus is the single-decker bus, with larger loads carried by double-decker buses and articulated buses, and smaller loads carried by midibuses and minibuses; coaches are...

 and train

Train

A train is a connected series of vehicles for rail transport that move along a track to transport cargo or passengers from one place to another place. The track usually consists of two rails, but might also be a monorail or maglev guideway.Propulsion for the train is provided by a separate...

 connection with all major cities in Finland

Finland

Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...

. Local transportation is provided by Santa's Express (bus line number 8) from the centre of Rovaniemi to Santa Park and Santa Claus Village

Santa Claus Village

Santa Claus Village is an amusement park near Rovaniemi in the Lapland region of Finland.-Location and transportation:Santa Claus Village is located about 8 km northeast of Rovaniemi and about 2 km from the Rovaniemi Airport....

. The bus trip takes about 30 minutes.

External links

• Official Web Site