Embrace the Arctic
B ehind the proud designation,” the Capital of Northern Scandinavia,” there is a lot of collaboration in the fields of e. g. academics, logistics and industry. The most northernmost parts of Finland, Sweden and Norway have learned to pull together and this has led to, for instance, new flight routes between the Northern cities. With Arctic industries including e. g. energy production, transport, and mining, there is need to seek synergies wherever possible.
Leading the way in many regards are the“ Arctic universities” in Oulu, Luleå, Tromsø, and Rovaniemi which are working together to develop an action plan for the Arctic Europe by 2020. The plan, titled the Arctic Agenda, is a comprehensive action plan involving numerous dimensions ranging from culture and technology to sustainable development, with each of the universities focusing on issues that suit most its particular expertise and competence.
Looking into the future, it is clear that new emerging fields – such as development of sustainable energy and data networks – will also benefit from high-level scientific research. Juha Ala-Mursula from BusinessOulu says that Arctic Europe requires input from many sectors:
“ Universities are focusing research into this area and there are also cultural exchanges. Business needs and logistics are also a key part of the big picture.”
Ala-Mursula believes that the University of Oulu is one of the forerunners of the entire“ Arctic attitude” – the university understood the vast potential of the Arctic a long time ago and has taken decisive steps to promote the cause.
“ In the future, we will see a trend where the Arctic areas will become even more relevant,” Ala-Mursula says. Case in point: there are already talks about connecting the London Stock Exchange with its counterparts in Shanghai and Tokyo with a high-performance data cable that would run via the Arctic areas.
“ Security issues could be improved tremendously due to Northeast cable access,” Ala-Mursula points out. In the similar vein, the Oulu Region is eager to add data centers into its already impressive roster, since the entire“ knowledge-intensive package” is readily available here:
“ We can offer cost-effective solutions rooted on safety, energy access and convenient construction.” l
North Star Calling
T he Oulu Region is proving to be real wild card in the
Travel & Tourism sector. For many international visitors, Oulu offers a great mix of safety, nature and urban comforts. Jyrki Kemppainen from BusinessOulu says that tourists have flocked to the North in increasing numbers of late.
“ Especially the local hotel market is showing great development.” In Oulu city center average hotel room occupancy rate from Jan-Oct 2016 has been over 65 %.
Nevertheless, most of the hotel patrons are still Finns – Kemppainen estimates the share of international guests at 20 %.“ While there has been decline in the number of Russian guests, it has been more than made up by the increase in the number of guests from Central Europe and Sweden.”
According to Kemppainen, recent marketing moves in the Central European market have certainly given a boost to Oulu’ s hotel business – and various other businesses of the sector.“ The idea is to showcase Oulu as the most versatile travel destination in Finland,” he says.
Whether it’ s skiing, hiking, fishing, shopping or fine dining – all of these things are readily accessible in the region.“ Today, Oulu is a very competitive alternative for today’ s travellers.”
And yet, there are plans to expand that offering considerably. Located four kilometres from the City Centre, Nallikari travel centre is one interesting“ work in progress” with EUR 100 million investments being planned for the area.“ Offering beautiful seaside nature, Nallikari could really be something in the years to come,” Kemppainen believes.
Already, there is the Nallikari Holiday Village, a year-round holiday resort that has made a name for itself as the“ Riviera of the North”. But that’ s just for starters:
“ According to the plans, the area could accommodate an amusement park, an activity arena and hotels.” l
6 Nordicum