When travelling to Finland, a holidaymaker is often looking for an authentic experience in the Nordic wilderness with a backdrop of unblemished nature. One such distinctive destination is Syöte, Finland’s southernmost fell region, which offers access to two ski centres, Syöte National Park, and an abundance of other activities that will bring you closer to nature.

In Syöte, you can enjoy the wild scenery without having to stray far from urban areas. The fell area offers an array of nature activities all year round, and during winter these include downhill skiing, cross-country skiing, snowboarding, snowmobile rides, husky sleigh rides, reindeer safaris, sauna bathing and “ice hole swimming”. The region’s unique southerly location also provides it with milder temperatures and a shorter period of winter darkness, which might come as a relief to foreign travellers.

Adventures at night

While enjoying any of the main attractions offered in the Syöte area, visitors are always surrounded by the peaceful air of the wilderness and the clear, white snow that covers everything, even the trees on the fell tops. Some of the activities can also be done by night, giving visitors the possibility of a more thrilling and intimate adventure in the wild. Paula Paukkeri, a sales manager from Syöte’s central booking agency, says:  “Our advantage in the Finnish market is our proximity to nature-centric services. Syöte is a small and cosy destination. Given its size, Syöte is easier to manage, and we can offer a more tailor-made and individual holiday experience to our visitors.”

Challenges for all levels

Juha Kuukasjärvi, a representative of Hotel Iso-Syöte, also wants to emphasise the importance of the ski centres as a part of Syöte’s services. In Syöte, there are two separate fell areas called Iso-Syöte and Pikku-Syöte, which lie about 4 km apart. The former is designed to cater for a more advanced skier, while the latter concentrates on snowboarding and offers skiing for beginners, teenagers and families with children. There is also an opportunity for accommodation in the actual fell area, where you can access the slopes straight from your hotel’s front step.

For more details visit: www.syote.fi

Choosing the right location for a convention can be essential to the outcome for both host and participants. Of course, one wants the experience to be out of the ordinary, but it is also necessary to ensure that the quality of facilities and equipment allows for top efficient arrangements. One place that can provide both long lasting impressions and highly professional arrangements is Finland. Scan Magazine has looked into some of the country’s many different possibilities.

Safe, efficient, punctual and very high quality. These are just some of the flattering adjectives used by conference and incentive travellers who have been to Finland. Unique, unspoilt, friendly and tranquil are other descriptions.

Helsinki is still a favoured destination for international conference and incentive travellers. Almost half of the 150,000 attendees each year at corporate events in Finland stay in Helsinki or nearby. But there is more to Finland than this jewel of the Baltic cities, and a third of visitors these days head for Finnish Lapland.

Leaving the ordinary behind

Helena Syvänen, MD of Polar Meetings Ltd, says there is a clear trend in travellers seeking more exotic destinations and new experiences but without compromises in standards, safety or efficiency.

It seems that Finnish Lapland fits the bill.

“Large hotel chains in big cities tend to offer much of the same everywhere and you would hardly know where you were most of the time. Lapland is not far away and it is easy to get to. It is the only true wilderness left in Europe with unspoilt nature. Our destinations in Levi are only 10 minutes from Kittilä airport, so you can be in your hotel room within 30 minutes of landing.”

Polar Meetings Ltd works with Finland’s leading congress organiser Blue & White Conferences. The companies have a long experience in organising every kind of meeting from high profile EU summits to intimate gatherings of a few like-minded folk in a Lapp tepee.

A new addition to an already good selection of venues in Levi is the state-of-the-art conference centre, Levi Summit, perched high on a fell with awesome panoramic views. The centre can accommodate up to several hundred visitors and, as always in Finland, it has the latest conference equipment and high speed communication access to ensure that meetings run smoothly.

“We organise all kinds of tailor-made programmes under the breathtaking skies of Lapland, including exciting outdoor activities in the fells of Levi and Kätkä,” Syvänen explains.

Levi is a popular destination for incentive trips, and Syvänen says that these are once-in-a-lifetime experiences and a way to motivate as well as thank staff.

“These trips are often a considerable investment for a company, and we are here to make sure that they will get a good return on their investment.  We know the area well. Our reputation has been built on providing a friendly and reliable service.”

Hole in one

London-based Guild Travel is an expert on Finland and things Finnish too. The company works closely with event and conference venues throughout Finland and neighbouring countries. Marjo Sanderson, MD of Guild Travel, says that the choice of venues and extracurricular activities is mind-boggling.

“But any group with golfing enthusiasts in it should head to Vanajanlinna (Vanaja Castle), a great historic manor house by a beautiful lake and frequented by Finnish presidents – as well as golfers.”

Linna Golf is one of Europe’s best golf courses and is only 100km north of Helsinki. The course, laid out over 122 hectares by Tim Lobb, is favoured by top players.  Mikko Ikonen, top Finnish professional golfer and the first Finn to win a European Tour Event, is seen there regularly. Even the Swedes are impressed. Golf Digest Sweden has rated Linna Golf as the best golf resort in northern Europe stating:

“This is the most luxurious golf resort in northern Europe. In fact there seems to be very few places like it in the whole of Europe.”

SK Golf Challenge 2009, a European Challenge Tour event, was held in Vanajanlinna in August.

“The event was hugely successful with wonderful weather, top players and some 20,000 spectators over four days,” says Mika Walkamo, who is the Lord of the Castle and its Marketing Director.

But he says that meetings and conferences are their bread and butter.

“Vanajanlinna is a historic, high quality destination, and we cater for all companies of any size.”

Walkamo does not name names but Vanajanlinna is also popular for high society weddings. Formula 1 champion Kimi Räikkönen had his wedding reception there a few years ago.

The estate is certainly suitable for those who are used only to the best. The exquisite former hunting lodge was built in the early 1920s by a wealthy industrialist to entertain Finland’s leading politicians and social figures. There are luxurious rooms in the lodge, sumptuous suites in the golf club building  as well as comfortable cottages, all surrounded by beautiful Finnish countryside.

High speed meetings

If you want to hold a meeting while travelling, Finland with its modern, comfortable high-speed train connections also has the perfect settings for this. A Pendolino working compartment accommodates seven people comfortably and you can work while the train shoots through the Finnish countryside at speeds of up to 220km/h.

Larger groups can reserve a whole coach for the journey, and on intercity trains you can choose among day cars, sleeping cars and special purpose cars for business and pleasure. A conference car, for example, has room for 24 people with modern office equipment and a saloon compartment for working and recreation. A train attendant takes care of the catering arrangements and looks after office equipment.

If you want to travel in style, there is the former presidential car for conference and PR use, now refurbished and with all the latest office equipment you may need. But for total freedom you should book a private train with a combination of different meeting or exhibition facilities, quality catering services and even your own pub, with a time table and routes to suit you.

Finnish intercity trains are modern, comfortable and punctual, thanks to VR, the state-owned rail company. The rail network in Finland is comprehensive. And you need not even remain within Finnish borders. Trains from Helsinki leave regularly for St Petersburg and Moscow. The most popular train for business travellers is called the Sibelius, which departs Helsinki in the morning and arrives in St Petersburg six hours later.

For more information visit: Polar Meetings www.polarmeetings.com , and Guild Travel www.guildtravel.com

Many visitors are taken aback by Finland’s astonishing nature and, just like Finnish expats, feel downhearted to leave after what they often experience as way too short a visit. But while getting their very own haven in the middle of it may seem like utopia to most, it is actually exactly what the Island of Strömsö offers.

Just an hour’s drive and ten minutes boat ride away from Helsinki, the 320 hectares island constitutes the perfect getaway for busy professionals and their families. Known for its virgin nature, the island offers plenty of opportunities to go fishing, hunting or berry and mushroom picking among the forests’ ospreys and deer.

“The main attraction here is of course the location; it is one of the most sought after and beautiful island communities in Finland,” says Jyrki Salminen, Sales and Marketing Director at Strömsö Property Development. “We are constructing 50 luxurious villas on the island over the next couple of years. The first 15 marina villas are finished and have been sold, and this summer we are completing the beach villas.”

The company also has 80 building plots sized around 8,000m2 for sale. When buying a plot, you are sure to get a uniquely beautiful holiday place. As all are different, you can choose just the type that pleases you most: rocky or grassy, on a slope or even ground and then build your dream holiday house. Some of the lots even include a fine beach and every lot has its own water area the length of the shoreline and 30 metres out to sea.

“The building sites are mainly placed directly on the shore, whereas the villas are placed more centrally on the island where all the restaurants and other facilities are, but they still have sea view,” says Salminen.

Strömsö has been inhabited since the 15^th century and has kept its original island culture, which is soon to be combined with modern leisure facilities such as golf ranges and tennis courts. Besides, every buyer of a plot or villa will also get a pier place in Strömsö’s home habour, Möviken, just as you can get your own pier at the island.

For more details visit: www.stromso.fi

With Scandinavia’s largest congress and concert centre and numerous smaller facilities surrounded by Finland’s beautiful nature, Tampere is the perfect place to hold any international convention. The town’s own airport has low-price connections to many major European cities, including London and Stockholm. Besides Tampere is located just a 25 minute flight or under two hours’ drive from Helsinki airport, which has connections to virtually all parts of the world.

Luckily Tampere’s 210,000 inhabitants realised the potential of the town a long time ago and the town has been adding to its natural advantages for many years. Tampere Hall, Finland’s leading congress centre, will celebrate its 20th anniversary next year. The building can accommodate congresses with up to 2,000 delegates and has hosted hundreds of international and thousands of national meetings over the years.

One of the people dedicated to developing the town as a convention destination is Ella Kuula. She is Convention Director at the non-profit organisation Tampere Convention Bureau, which assists potential visitors with finding the right accommodation, meeting facility and social programmes.

“Tampere is a big small town. By that I mean that it has a small-town atmosphere, really tranquil with lakes and a lot of nature around, but it also has a lively city centre with a lot of things happening,” Kuula says adding: “but the best thing about it is, of course, that you have a lot of conference services. This means that you can have a high quality conference with the latest technology without being in a busy, crowded city.”

A jewel between two lakes

Tampere is located in the southern-central part of Finland just 170 km north of Helsinki and placed between two big lakes. The Tammerkoski rapids run through the town and it was on its banks that the city was originally founded, with the rapids as a base for energy. Many of the original 19th century red-brick buildings are still a part of the townscape. “Nowadays Tampere is really more of a high technology city; it is not an old-fashioned industrial town anymore. Most of the red brick industrial buildings are transformed into modern facilities such as offices, cinemas, museums and restaurants. But they are nicely preserved so different details are left and the old atmosphere is still there,” says Kuula.

Enjoy fresh air and water

Close to the heart of the town is a natural park located on Pyynikki ridge. This makes it very easy to combine a conference stay with outdoor activities such as the popular Nordic walking or a bicycle ride.

“Nordic walking is special for Finland in that a lot of people are really into it. They walk with walking poles as if they were skiing and in that way exercise the whole body. We have guides who can take visitors to try it out at the end of the day or even between lectures,” says Kuula. “In the middle of the park there is an old observation tower with a nice little café where one can buy delicious doughnuts and enjoy the view.”

A swim in one of the surrounding clean lakes is also a refreshing option at the end of a long day. This, combined with a warm Finnish sauna, will definitely make your day!

Easy access all year round

Although the majority of Tampere’s visitors come during the summer for major international congresses, the town is also an attractive destination during winter. “This spring, the largest conference we had was the Annual Congress of the European Accounting Association with 1,100 delegates. We can easily host conferences with 1,000 -2,000 delegates. Most of the conferences in Tampere have around 200-300 delegates,” says Kuula adding: “We have fewer congresses in winter although the town is always easily accessible and it is very beautiful in winter with its lights and the snow.”

The town’s two universities and one polytechnic, together with numerous scientific research institutes, maintain a high standard of research and are internationally very active. This in turn attracts many congresses to Tampere.

Tampere Convention Bureau offers free assistance to organisations and companies of all fields considering the town as their next conference destination.

For more information visit: www.tampereconventionbureau.fi or call +358 3 243 4900