The number of visitors to the region has risen 160% in 30 years as concerns grow for its fragile ecosystem and indigenous practices
Revealed: Europe losing 600 football pitches of nature and crop land a day
Once upon a time, Lapland was a word that conjured up the home of Santa Claus in the imagination of British children, but increasingly it has become a tourist destination.
Last year, more than 700,000 people came to the region, with 100,000 of them coming from Britain. That number is up 160% compared with 30 years ago.
Soaring tourism is making a substantial footprint on Lapland’s environment. Exclusive analysis shows that around tourist hotspots in Finnish Lapland, green areas equivalent in size to London’s Hyde Park were developed for the purposes of tourism in the five years to 2023. The developments include holiday homes, ski slopes and a virtual reality experience to give tourists who missed the light show another chance to view the aurora borealis.
