In 2018, I had the opportunity to visit Finland, the northernmost country in Europe, where winter transforms from just a cold season into a complete tourist experience. There, snow is not just a climate phenomenon, but a part of life, culture and the tourism industry.

From the first moment, you feel that you have entered a quiet white world, where forests, lakes, and roads are covered with snow, in a scene closer to an artistic painting.

Lapland... where the story begins

In Lapland, the cold, snow and boreal forests become world-class tourist attractions. The Finns have succeeded in transforming the harsh natural conditions into a competitive advantage, making the region a destination for those looking for a different experience.

Among the most prominent experiences are ice resorts and hotels, where the visitor can live inside facilities built of snow and ice, in an experience in which the tourist is not only looking for a room, but rather for a story to tell after his return.

Under the aurora sky

The scene is not complete without the Aurora Borealis, which lights up the Lapland sky with magical colors. The resorts have developed warm glass units that allow the visitor to watch the twilight and stars from within a comfortable place, in a wonderful model that combines technology and nature.
The experience goes beyond the snow to include skiing, forest trekking, dog and reindeer sledding, fishing on frozen lakes, a Finnish sauna, and learning about Sami culture.

What did you learn from Finland?

When I visited Finland in 2018, I looked at it with the eyes of a tourist and a specialist in tourism and tourism marketing, and I came away with an important lesson: It is not necessary to have the sun and beaches to create successful tourism.

Snow, ice, forests, cold, and natural phenomena can be transformed into global tourism experiences, if people use them well.

Finland has made winter an identity, snow a product, ice an experience, and the aurora borealis a dream that people travel thousands of kilometers to achieve.

Thus, my trip to Finland remained in my memory as if I lived inside a story... written by winter, shaped by nature, and transformed by man into a global tourism industry.