In recent decades, the Finnish Santa Claus has visited East Asia every year, met fans and distributed gifts in Japan, China and South Korea.
But this year’s events have been canceled for the first time, and organizers mentioned the risk of a coronavirus infection.
“Normally we have a lot of big events before Christmas in Japan, Korea and China. We have done them for 20 years with partners such as Finnair, Finnish embassies and many others, ”CEO of the Santa Claus Foundation Jari Ahjoharju told Yle News.
According to Finnair Heidi Lemmetyinen, Santa’s visits to Asia usually involve large crowds gathering to look at pictures with the man. “Such close personal interaction is not a very good idea in an era of social distance,” he said.
Santa’s annual visits arouse considerable media interest in the countries they visit and have been seen as a sign of the start of the festive season, tour operators claim. News of the cancellation appeared in the largest outlets in the area.
“Before Christmas, Finland’s national airline will bring Santa Claus to Japan,” wrote NHK, Japan’s national broadcaster, “but this year’s trip has been canceled due to the impact of a new coronavirus.”
The Mainichi Shimbun magazine appeared particularly disappointed. In an article titled “Santa-san in Japan: A 30-Year Seasonal Tradition Interrupted by the Coronavirus,” the newspaper complained that “a red hat, a white beard” would not be flying out of Helsinki.
Hard in Lapland tourism
The cancellation is a blow to the Finnish winter tourism industry, which relies on foreign visitors.
Last month, a study by the Lapland Tourism Council found that more than 60 percent of this year’s accommodation bookings for December had been canceled. More than half of the companies surveyed believed that domestic visitors would not compensate for the financial losses caused by the dramatic decline in tourists from abroad.
“Covid-19 will definitely face a lot of tourism in Lapland. We estimate from mid-March 2020 to March 2021 a loss of about 700 million euros in tourism revenue and 5,000 fewer tourism-related jobs in Lapland, “said Sanna Kärkkäinen, Visit Rovaniemi CEO.
Parliament’s Constitutional Affairs Committee shot the recently proposed test-based model, which would have allowed visitors to enter Finland for non-essential purposes, which, according to Kärkkäinen, has frustrated Lapland’s winter tourism companies.
“The Lapland tourism industry has been very disappointed that the risk assessment plan created in cooperation with tourism journalists and the Lapland Hospital District was not approved as a tool for safe travel and opening up to Finland,” he told Yle News.
– Lapland’s tourism industry has been working on the model with health authorities since April and has proposed health and safety measures to the Finnish government. Still, after eight months, hardly any progress has been made, ”Kärkkäinen said.
Restrictions for most passengers
Currently, travelers from all European destinations other than the Vatican have restrictions on entering Finland Finnish Border Guard.
Visitors from Australia, Singapore, South Korea, Japan, Rwanda, Thailand and New Zealand are not currently subject to Covid-related entry restrictions, although their own governments may set rules that restrict tourists’ access to visit Finland.
In the case of Japan, the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs is currently imposing a third-level restriction on Finland, which recommends all travel. Japanese passengers returning from Finland to Japan will also be quarantined for 14 days upon their return.
Source: The Nordic Page