Santa Claus, place branding and competition C. MICHAEL HALL Hall, C. Michael. Santa Claus, place branding and competition. Fennia 186: 1, pp. 59–67. Helsinki. ISSN 0015-0010. Santa Claus has been described as the world’s strongest brand. Although Santa Claus has been examined in the context of product and retail branding, the Santa mythology has been little discussed with respect to place branding. The article examines Santa Claus in relation to place branding and competition and provides a number of international examples where Santa is integrated into place branding strategies in order to construct regional advantage, particularly with respect to attracting tourists. Such strategies are regarded as extremely sig- nificant for peripheral areas which otherwise do not have the resources availa- ble for place branding that urban areas do. The paper concludes by noting po- tential future issues for Santa related place branding and Christmas tourism in- cluding the impact of climate change and issues of authenticity. C. Michael Hall, Department of Management, College of Business & Econom- ics, University of Canterbury, Private Bag 4800, Christchurch, New Zealand, and Department of Geography, PO Box 3000, FI-90014 University of Oulu, Finland. E-mail: michael.hall@canterbury.ac.nz Place competition Place branding is an integral part of contemporary place competition. Place branding, also referred to as place marketing and place imaging and reimag- ing, is regarded as an important component in the attraction and retention of mobile capital, firms, people (including skilled and unskilled workers, domestic and international migrants, and domes- tic and international tourists), and in the promo- tion and sales of locally produced goods and serv- ices (e.g. Kotler et al. 1999; Danmarks Turistråd 2000; Kotler & Gertner 2002; Halkier & Ther- kelsen 2004). Although the value of place com- petitive strategies, such as place branding, is often highly contested many policy makers remain en- thusiastic about the place competitive discourse and the opportunity to become winning places (e.g. Karppi 2001; Malecki 2004; Bristow 2005; Hall 2005, 2007; Nyseth and Granås 2007). Nordic cities and regions appear increasingly concerned with how their places are branded and perceived in the national and international mar- ketplace. However, the majority of research on place branding in the Nordic, as well as interna- tional context, appears primarily focussed on cit- ies and urban regions rather than the more periph- eral areas (Jansson & Power 2006). In one sense this is not surprising as it reflects ongoing competi- tion between metropolitan areas to be positioned as cosmopolitan cores and, in some cases, so called ‘world-class cities’. Yet ironically it may well be the peripheral areas that, in comparative terms, arguably most need the benefits of attract- ing new capital, people and firms (Müller & Jans- son 2007). Urban place competition discourse tends to fo- cus on such regional policy ideas as cultural quar- ters, growth poles, technopoles, cultural cities, creative cities, urban revitalization, networks, clustering and innovation (Malecki 2004; Hall & Williams 2008). However, with the exception of the last two concepts, much of the place competi- tion discourse does not transfer easily to the ‘sim- pler’ economies of peripheral areas, especially given some of the attributes of peripherality such as lack of accessibility and a relative sparse popu- lation. Nevertheless, changes in regional policy thinking are still relevant to peripheral areas. For example, Cooke and Leydesdorff (2006) argue that there has been a significant shift in the terrain of thinking of regional advantage from one that fo- 60 FENNIA 186: 1 (2008)C. Michael Hall cuses on competitive or comparative advantages of regions to one that focuses on the constructed advantages between regions. Brands are clearly important contributors to the construction of regional advantage. Although the concept of a brand is consistently debated in the marketing literature the American Marketing As- sociation definition of a brand, ‘A name, term, de- sign, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller’s good or service as distinct from those of other sellers’ provides a useful working defini- tion for present purposes. Place branding is there- fore the development of a place brand and its pro- motion in order to differentiate a place from other locations so as to gain advantage for its firms, or- ganizations, people, products and services. Place branding is also multi-directional. Internal place branding is concerned with brand development and construction in relation to place identity, in- cluding community pride and the creation and maintenance of an attractive environment. Exter- nal place branding is concerned with the commu- nication of brand and brand values, including place attributes, to external markets in order to ful- fil place branding goals and objectives. Place branding is undertaken via a mix of mate- rial and intangible means. Material strategies in- clude such mechanisms as flagship projects or sig- nature developments, often as part of broader planning strategies or redevelopment projects. Im- material strategies include the use of advertising, slogans, media placement and the development of new place myths (Jansson & Power 2006). For ur- ban areas there is usually sufficient capital to seek to develop flagship projects. Such a strategy is of- ten much more difficult for peripheral areas given the smaller economic resource base, although it can be done, as exemplified by the development of the Ice Hotel in Jukkasjärvi, Sweden, which has proven to be a far more significant branding ele- ment for the region in terms of media coverage than the nearby mine at Kiruna. For many periph- eral regions, and particularly northern areas, one possibility for place branding may be the use of a natural feature. For example, Finnmark in Norway makes substantial use of North Cape as a socially constructed flagship element in its branding. An- other natural feature that may be used is an icon animal or plant. For example, Churchill on the shore of Hudson Bay in Manitoba, Canada, pro- motes itself as the ‘Polar Bear Capital of the World’. However, many northern peripheral areas have a number of common natural features that make it extremely difficult to utilise them for branding pur- poses as a means of differentiation, such as winter snow, conifers and beech trees, although they are still important aspects of place, especially for tour- ism. Therefore, in such situations, the place brand- ing focus moves towards the immaterial and intan- gible, often through the development of new place myths and slogans. Urban examples of such place slogans include “Espoo – a City for Creativity and Expertise” and Vantaa “The Good Life City” (It should also be noted that the latter slogan is also used by Albany, Georgia, USA, which is also the ‘Pecan Capital of the World’). The world’s strongest brand Although stemming from different historical sourc- es Santa Claus (also referred to as Saint Nicolas) and Father Christmas have become combined in much of the world’s popular and commercial im- aginations. Santa Claus has been described as the world’s strongest brand (Arruda 2003) (see also Aaltonen 2004 for a commentary in the Finnish media). According to Arruda (2003), ‘Santa Claus is the envy of brand managers everywhere. His brand attributes are clear and desirable to virtually everyone. Even parts of the world that have no connection to the holiday know who he is and what he stands for’. The presence of Santa in shop- ping centres, retail outlets and homes clearly pro- vide a strong visual presence for the Santa brand while the connection with Christmas clearly en- courages consumption, gift-giving and expendi- ture as part of what is termed the ‘Christmas spirit’ (Clarke 2006, 2007). In the United States for ex- ample, 1.9 billion Christmas cards are given each year while 20.8 million Christmas trees were cut on farms for purchase in 2002 (US Census Bureau 2005). Although some may decry the loss of much of the historical connection to notions of charity and the spirit of Yuletide there is no doubting the con- temporary retail importance of Santa both as a general part of seasonal shopping (e.g. Said 2006; Snellman 2006a; Coca-Stefaniak et al. 2008) and seasonal advertising in general. In addition, the commercial use of Santa as part of ‘advertainment’ may be associated with particular product requests (Otnes 1994; O’Cass & Clarke 2002; Pine & Nash 2002; Pine et al 2007). The growth of Santa as a brand, particularly in those places with no tradi- tional cultural connection to Father Christmas or FENNIA 186: 1 (2008) 61Research note Saint Nicolas is also arguably a potent commodi- fied symbol of globalisation (Ger & Belk 1996). However, while there is substantial academic and media literature on Santa as a brand, there is surprisingly little academic discussion of the con- tribution that Santa makes to place competition in northern latitudes and the extent to which different locations have sought to claim the Christmas char- acter as their own. Pretes (1995), for example dis- cussed the development of ‘the Santa Claus indus- try’ as a form of postmodern tourism with respect to the development of the Santa Claus Village in Rovaniemi. Although he noted that an essential el- ement of the Rovaniemi strategy was ‘convincing the rest of the world that Finland was the real home of Santa Claus – against rival claimants in Alaska, Sweden, Norway, and Greenland’ there was no discussion of the various uses of Santa Claus as a part of place competition. Similarly, Haahti and Yavas (2004) provided a useful account of the im- age of the SantaPark in Rovaniemi but do not pro- vide a comparative perspective. The following section discusses the different ways in which plac- es use Santa for place branding purposes. Santa Claus and place branding Table 1 provides examples of the way that Santa Claus or related myths are used for place brand- ing. It should be emphasised that this is by no means an exhaustive list and instead represents some of the more overt examples of connections between Santa Claus and place for reasons of place branding and competition. With the excep- tion of Santa Claus, Indiana, which is included by virtue of its postal significance all of the examples are from high latitudes. This therefore ignores theme parks such Santa’s Workshop, North Pole, Cascade, Colorado (http://www.santas-colo.com/) which is open from May to December each year. Although Santa’s Workshop does provide a postal service, Santa and Christmas is not integrated into place branding of the local jurisdiction (Pikes Peak). Similarly, while the Office of the Turkish Prime Minister, Directorate General of Press and Information notes that the villages of Demre and Patara in Anatolia were homes of the Bishop of Myra – the historical origins of St. Nicholas – and the connection is noted on a number of tour com- pany websites it is not being used as a formal part of place promotion by local bodies. Nevertheless, this may well happen in the future due to the in- creasing coverage to the historical connections and the potential to increase Christmas season tourism (Seal 2005). Lapland has been described as the ‘Santa tour- ism superpower’ (Snellmann 2006b) and it clearly has had first mover advantage with respect to San- ta Claus related tourism at an international level. Focussed initially on Rovaniemi which has the greatest concentration of Santa and Christmas re- lated infrastructure in terms of theme parks and activities as well as the most overt use of Santa in branding, Santa tourism has also become an im- portant Christmas season tourism activity for a number of other locations in the region. For exam- ple, as of April 2008 Visit Finland reported that for the UK market alone there were 20 tour operators offering Christmas packages to Lapland with flight destinations to Ivalo, Kajaani, Kittilä, Kuusamo and Rovaniemi while air access is also available from Kirkenes (Norway) and Kiruna (Sweden) as part of package tours (Visit Finland 2008). Un- doubtedly, Santa tourism has contributed substan- tially from an economic development perspective (Lähteenmäki 2006) with tourism being the largest contributor to the GDP for any Finnish region ex- cept Åland (Ministry of Trade and Industry 2006; Hall et al. 2008). Halpern (2008) also estimates that airport-related international tourism in Lap- land contributed 36 million Euros to the regional economy in 2005 with most arrivals occurring during the Christmas season via charter flights. Santa tourism and branding is also extensively supported at the national government level and by Finnair the national carrier. Visit Finland, for ex- ample, provides a booklet written for the market- ing purposes of tourism related to the Christmas season which emphasises the supposed Finnish nature of Santa Claus: Why does the real Santa Claus live in Finland? You can meet him on any day of the year, without any charge, only in Fin- land. Santa Claus’ own animal, the reindeer, lives in Finland. There is snow on the ground during the Christmas season. At the Arctic Circle, Santa Claus has a post office of his own and the world’s only Main Santa Post Office. The Finnish Santa Claus receives by far the most letters from the children around the world. The only real amusement park of Santa Claus, the SantaPark, is situated in Fin- land. There are wide circles in Finland that have committed themselves to help Santa Claus (Visit Finland 2007). Nevertheless, despite the undoubted signifi- cance of Santa tourism to the region and the re- 62 FENNIA 186: 1 (2008)C. Michael Hall gion’s present leading status in terms of numbers of visitors, substantial long-term issues for place competitiveness remain. Within Lapland itself, there is the potential for increasing competition for locations to be associated with Santa. Although Rovaniemi is clearly the market leader the rise of international travel to other destinations presents substantial challenges, especially as travel opera- tors to other Lapland destinations increasingly pro- mote holiday packages as being more ‘authentic’ than those available in Rovaniemi. In the longer term the fact that there are so many Santa tourism options available in Lapland may even call to question the uniqueness of the Lapland Santa ex- perience (e.g. Activities Abroad 2008). Although perhaps the harshest comments can be found with the Scan Meridian tour company A long time ago, we hit upon the idea of taking children to meet the real Father Christmas. And in Lapland we found exactly what our young and young at heart travellers wanted. Then as now, the secret lay in travelling to villages in the snows where traditional Finnish Lutheran customs are played out on a small scale. There, Father Christ- mas can service his sledges and reindeer against a background of snow covered forests. And teams of huskies can happily bark up all the wrong trees, whilst you enjoy snowmobile rides and experi- ence the habits and habitats of the reindeer and the huskies. Unfortunately (one might say) the idea caught on so well that the mass-market operators felt they had to come crashing into the act. How- ever, some villages were not big enough for their masses, so they persuaded the inhabitants of Rova- niemi, the so called capital of Finnish Lapland, Saariselkä and Levi to put on snow-dusted plastic replicas of the real thing with discos, bars and oth- er home “comforts” the mass-market seems unable to do without. Such trips have all the magic of a visit to a shopping centre in Croydon after a freak fall of snow (with apologies to Croydon). But such once-in-a-lifetime experiences, we feel, need to be just that – genuine, traditional, memorable, mystical and exciting. We offer tobogganing and snowmobiling, not discos; ice-fishing, not fast food; pine clad rooms or open-fired log cabins, not soulless cell blocks; and herds of huskies, not people. To avoid the masses, we’ve retreated to just three special places, Harriniva, [Ylläshumi- na] and Kakslauttanen. We have departures… for no more than 50 people at a time. If you would like to join us, we would love to have you but please remember: no discothèques, no fruit ma- chines and no television. Just a family Christmas or New Year with like-minded people (ScanMe- ridian 2006). In terms of place branding Rovaniemi is not dif- ferentiated even within Finland. Although Rov- aniemi is ‘the Christmas city’, Turku promotes itself as the ‘Christmas city of Finland’. Authenticity is also regarded as integral to the Turku Christmas experience. Dodson (2007) writing in the Guardi- an recommended to readers, ‘So unless you want to entertain small children, avoid Lapland this Christmas and head for a weekend in old Finland instead. Go to the city that’s so good they named it a capital twice’. Although the two cities are argu- ably positioning themselves for different markets, with Turku concentrating on longer stay visits, the branding of the two cities raises the wider issue of the international competitiveness of Christmas place brands. Snellman (2006b) notes that ‘cities compete quite fiercely for the tourists’ custom’ with Christ- mas markets in the German towns and cities re- ceiving an aggregate of approximately 160 million visitors. Munich’s Weihnachtsmarkt alone attracts around 3 million visitors from home and abroad. In the Baltic region Stockholm’s Christmas Market at Skansen is advertised in Finland. Tallinn de- clared itself the ‘Nordic Christmas Capital’ in 2001, while Pärnu in Estonia and Riga in Latvia have given themselves the title of ‘Baltic Christmas City’. Two Norwegian towns have also positioned themselves with respect to Christmas tourism, al- though unlike other Nordic countries Norway has lagged substantially behind with respect to devel- oping Christmas tourism. The Norwegian towns’ Christmas tourism is based on the character of Ju- lenissen as well as elves and trolls and has devel- oped a strong linkage to the Japanese market as well as the Norwegian diaspora in the United States. In Alaska, the town of North Pole near Fairbanks is seeking to develop its Christmas focus via the development of a theme city concept and its pro- motion is getting increasing international coverage (e.g. Rush 2007). The town’s post office also re- ceives considerable mail for Santa which also presents substantial branding opportunities for the town. Surprisingly, the country that receives most Christmas mail for Santa, Canada, has not con- nected Santa to a specific place branding strategy and instead promotes the idea of Santa being at the North Pole. Although given current develop- FENNIA 186: 1 (2008) 63Research note ments with respect to Arctic Sea sovereignty claims, the promotion of such a national or even international imagining may not be completely politically innocent (Shukman 2007) and may rep- resent a significant tourism opportunity for a north- ern community. Greenland also promotes itself as Santa’s home and Nuuk, the capital, has lain claim to Santa by having the world’s biggest post-box situated outside of Santa’s post office at the tourist information centre. However, the capacity of Greenland to respond to letters to Santa is under substantial threat because of public spending cuts, which is not likely to help the long-term develop- ment of Santa tourism. In contrast, the Finnish trade ministry financially support the replies to let- ters to Santa in Rovaniemi (Smith and Bagenal 2006), again emphasising the linkages between Santa and place branding. Conclusions: The future of the world’s strongest brand Santa Claus and Christmas clearly has a powerful influence on consumer spending, including holi- day decisions. The increasing association of Santa Claus and similar mythical characters with places illustrates the significance of such mythologies for place branding in both material and immaterial forms. Rovaniemi and Lapland have been at the forefront of Santa related place branding but other locations, some within other slightly different Christmas traditions such as in Norway, are also seeking to utilise Santa and Christmas in order to construct place advantage over other regions. This is especially important in the northern peripheral context given the relative absence of other poten- tial competitive factors, but is also extended to other peripheries. Nevertheless, new factors are emerging that may challenge some of the developments that un- derlie Santa branding and tourism. The issue of commodification and perceived authenticity of the Santa experience is obviously one dimension that is already starting to influence travel compa- nies in their destination choice. However, perhaps far more importantly in the longer term will be as- surances to the customer that some of the environ- mental images that have been developed as part of the brand, such as snow and reindeer, will be available for visual consumption. In the wider context concern over the melting Arctic sea ice and ice caps is already starting to develop a link between climate change and Santa (e.g. Robison 2007), while in Finland concern is being expressed about ‘snow security’ for the Christmas tourist sea- son with Rovaniemi being portrayed as a poten- tially riskier destination that other resorts areas. For example, a story from the French AFP press agency with respect to the impacts of climate change on Lapland and the relative climate advan- tage of Enontekiö over Rovaniemi (Branchereau 2007) was widely covered internationally. Further- more, at least two travel companies are using as- surances on snow cover as part of their promo- tions. In their FAQ page Canterbury Travel (2008) stated: Will there be snow? A strange question to ask perhaps, but in the year 2003 one location in Lapland, namely Rovaniemi City, and its immedi- ate environs, initially suffered from lack of snow. Following this occurrence Canterbury Travel trans- ferred passengers on our day tours to a northern location where there was plenty of snow. As a re- sult we have decided not to feature day tours to this immediate area. We still operate 2 one-day tours via Rovaniemi Airport (namely Christmas Past Christmas Present and the North Pole Post Of- fice) to locations where snow levels were not a problem. Similarly, Santadays (2008) stated with respect to snow availability, ‘There will be snow in Lap- land! Reports of lack of snow were exaggerated in previous years and only applied to a small area near Rovaniemi. The better quality trips take place in the far north of Lapland where snow is virtually guaranteed and counted in metres not inches!‘ Place branding is a slow process with no guar- antee of long-term success. To date a number of locations have achieved success with their brand- ing in terms of Santa and Christmas. However, for place brands to succeed in the longer term they have to be believable and reflect local assets and characteristics. Unfortunately, for a number of the northern locations that are seeking to use the mythology of Santa as their basis for constructed advantage, climatic change may well lead to the loss of the Christmas environment that sets the all important context for the authenticity of the brand. 64 FENNIA 186: 1 (2008)C. Michael Hall REFERENCES Aaltonen, J (2004). Santa Claus is a strong brand. Helsingin Sanomat 15.12.2004. . 1.4.2008. Activities Abroad The Activity Travel Company (2008). Santa Lapland experience, . 1.5.2008. American Marketing Association marketing power (2008). Dictionary, . 1.4.2008 Arruda, W (2003). Urban voice – Could Santa be the world’s strongest brand? brandchannel.com. 22.12.2003. . 1.4.2008. Branchereau, G (2007). Global warming may soon see Santa don shorts. AFP Press Release, 17.12.2007. Bristow, G (2005). ”Everyone’s a winner”: problema- tising the discourse of regional competitiveness. Journal of Economic Geography 5, 285–304. Canada Post (2007). Santa’s Post Office prepares for a busy season...Guinness World RecordsTM holder gets ready to deliver!, Press Release 9.11.2007. . 1.4.2008. Canterbury Travel (2008). FAQ. . 1.4.2008. Clarke, P (2006). Christmas gift giving involvement. Journal of Consumer Marketing 23:5, 283–291. Clarke, P (2007). A measure for Christmas spirit. Jour- nal of Consumer Marketing 24:1, 8–17. Coca-Stefaniak, JA, F Stasi, G Codato, E Franco & G Roberts (2008). Reclaiming customers through a retailer-led TCM scheme in Italy. Journal of Place Management and Development 1:1, 115–124. Danmarks Turistråd (2000). Branding Danmark. Dan-Dan- marks nye ansigt i verden. Danmarks Turistråd. København. Dodson, S. (2007). Christmas’s second city. Lapland might be the capital of Christmas, but Finns head to their country’s oldest city of Turku for a more traditional festive break. The Guardian 18.12.2007. . 1.4.2008. Ger, G & RW Belk (1996). I’d like to buy the world a coke: Consumptionscapes of the “less affluent world.” Journal of Consumer Policy 19:3, 271– 304. Haahto, A & U Yavas (2004). A multi-attribute ap- proach to understanding image of a theme park: the case of SantaPark in Lapland. European Busi- ness Review 16:4, 390–397. Hall, CM (2005). Tourism. Rethinking the social sci- ence of mobility. Pearson Education, Harlow. Hall, CM (2007). Tourism and regional competitive- ness. In Tribe J (ed). Advances in tourism research: new directions, challenges and applications, 217–230. Elsevier, Oxford. Hall, CM, D Müller & J Saarinen (2008). Nordic tour- ism: issues and cases. Channel View, Clevedon. Hall, CM & A Williams (2008). Tourism and innova- tion. Routledge, London. Halkier H & A Therkelsen (2004). Umbrella place branding. A study of friendly exoticism and exotic friendliness in coordinated national tourism and investment promotion. SPIRIT Discussion Paper, 26. Aalborg University, Aalborg. Halpern, N (2008). Lapland’s airports: Facilitating the development of international tourism in a periph- eral region. Scandinavian Journal of Hospitality and Tourism, 8:1, 25–47. Jansson, J & D Power (eds) (2006). The Image of The City – Urban branding as constructed capabilities in Nordic city regions. Nordic Innovation Centre, Oslo. Karppi, I (2001). Competitiveness in the Nordic Econ- omies, Nordregio WP2001:2. Nordregio, Stock- holm. Kotler, P, C Asplund, I Rein & D Haider (1999). Mar- keting places Europe. Pearson Education, Lon- don. Kotler, P & D Gertner (2002). Country as brand, prod- uct, and beyond: A place marketing and brand management perspective. Journal of Brand Man- agement 9:4–5, 249–261. Kretchmer, SB (2004). Advertainment: the evolution of product placement as a mass media marketing strategy. In Galician, M (ed) Handbook of product placement in the mass media: new strategies in marketing theory, practice, trends, and ethics, 37–54. Haworth Press, Binghampton. Lähteenmäki, M (2006). From reindeer nomadism to extreme experiences: economic transitions in Finnish Lapland in the 19th and 20th centuries. International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business 3:6, 696–704. Malecki, EJ (2004). Jockeying for position: what it means and why it matters to regional develop- ment policy when places compete. Regional Stud- ies 38:9, 1101–1120. Ministry of Trade and Industry (2006). Matkailun aluetaloudelliset vaikutukset – matkailun alueelli- nen tilinpito (Regional economic effects of tour-(Regional economic effects of tour- ism – regional tourism satellite account). Ministry of Trade and Industry, Helsinki. Müller, DK & B Jansson (eds) (2007). Tourism in pe- ripheries: perspectives from the far North and South. CAB International, Wallingford. Nyseth, T & B Granås (2007). Place reinvention in the north. Dynamics and governance perspectives. Nordregio, Stockholm. O’Cass, A & P Clarke (2002). Dear Santa, do you have my brand? A study of the brand requests, awareness and request styles at Christmas time. Journal of Consumer Behaviour 2:1, 37–53. Otnes, C, YC Kim & K Kim (1994). All I want for Christmas: an analysis of children‘s brand requests to Santa Claus. The Journal of Popular Culture 27:4, 183–194. FENNIA 186: 1 (2008) 65Research note Pine, KJ & A Nash (2002). Dear Santa: The effects of television advertising on young children. Interna- tional Journal of Behavioral Development 26:6, 529–539. Pine, KJ, P Wilson & AS Nash (2007). The relation- ship between television advertising, children‘s viewing and their requests to Father Christmas. Journal of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics 28:6, 456–461. Pretes, M (1995). Postmodern tourism: the Santa Claus industry. Annals of Tourism Research 22:1, 1–15. Robison, P (2007). Save Santa Claus‘s home from melting, Seattle Mayor urges kids. Bloomberg. . 30.11.2007. Rush, P (2007). Santa’s Alaskan home. New Zealand Herald, Associated Press Release 5:00AM Tuesday December 11 2007. Said, C (2006). SANTA CLAUS INC. The big guy in red is all about brand identity, selling photo pack- ages and driving hordes of holiday shoppers into the stores. San Francisco Chronicle 16.12.2006. . 1.4.2008. Santadays (2008). About Lapland, . 1.4.2008. ScanMeridian (2006). Father Christmas holidays in Lapland, . 1.4.2008. Seal, J (2005). Christmas Turkey. The Guardian 3.12.2005. . 1.4.2008. Shukman, D (2007). Canadian vessels assert Arctic claim. BBC News 16.10.2007. . 1.4.2008. Smith, N & F Bagenal (2006). Santa is sorry, but the elf post is down. The Sunday Times 26.11.2006. . 1.4.2008. Snellman, RV (2006a). Is Santa Claus becoming an overworked seasonal jack-of-all-trades? Does the Stripping Santa meet ministry guidelines? Is the brand in danger? Helsingin Sanomat international edition – culture, 26.12.2006 . 1.4.2008. Snellman, RV (2006b). Santa tourism superpower. Four days in Lapland can cost as much as a fort- night in the Caribbean, but it’s worth it. Helsingin Sanomat international edition – business and fi- nance, 19.12.2006. . 1.4.2008. US Census Bureau (2005). Facts for figures. The holi- day season. CB05-FF.19-2 (Updated) 19.12.2005. . 1.4.2008. Visit Finland (2007). The ABC on Santa Claus, . 1.4.2008. Visit Finland (2008). Christmas in Finland – official travel and tourism guide, . 1.4.2008. 66 FENNIA 186: 1 (2008)C. Michael Hall Ta b le 1 : Ex am p le s o f Sa n ta C la u s re la te d p la ce b ra n d in g C o u n tr y Lo ca ti o n w eb si te s C h ri st m as ch ar ac te r / b ra n d Lo ca li sa ti o n m es sa ge M at er ia l ev id en ce o f b ra n d C an ad a N o rt h P o le H 0 H 0 H 0 (o ffi ci al C an ad ia n p o st al co d e fo r m ai l to Sa n ta C la u s) h tt p :/ /c an ad ap o st .c a/ sa n ta s- co rn er Sa n ta C la u s (I n En gl is h ); Fa th er C h ri st m as (I n Fr en ch ) N o rt h P o le M o re th an 11 ,0 0 0 cu rr en t an d re ti re d C an ad a P o st em p lo ye es re fe rr ed to as th e P o st al El ve s re p ly to th e m o re th an a m il li o n le tt er s th at ar e re ce iv ed an d o ve r 4 0 ,0 0 0 em ai ls (C an ad a P o st 2 0 0 7 ) Fi n la n d R o va n ie m i h tt p :/ /w w w .p o st i. fi /p o st im er k- ki ke sk u s/ jp p /e n _i n d ex .h tm l (S an ta C la u s’ m ai n P o st O ffi ce ) h tt p :/ /w w w .s an ta cl au sl iv e. co m / h tt p :/ /t o u ri sm .r o va n ie m i. fi /? d ep ti d = 6 3 3 5 (t o u ri sm in fo rm at io n se rv ic e) h tt p :/ /w w w .s an ta cl au s. fi /? d ep ti d = 1 4 5 6 1 (A Fa ir yt al e o f C h ri st m as ) (R o va n ie m i D ev el o p m en t A ge n cy ) Sa n ta C la u s; ‘R o va n ie m i – th e C h ri st - m as C it y’ T h e ca p it al ci ty o f La p la n d , R o va n ie m i is a u n iq u e d es ti - n at io n b o th w it h re sp ec t to lo ca ti o n an d se rv ic es . Lo - ca te d w h er e La p la n d b eg in s, yo u ca n cr o ss th e A rc ti c C ir cl e, m ee t Sa n ta C la u s an d en jo y th e b ri gh tn es s o f th e su m m er n ig h ts o r, in w in te r, ad m ir e th e n o rt h er n li gh ts . R o va n ie m i is an ad ve n tu re in it se lf . T h e A rc ti c C ir cl e is w h er e yo u ’l l fi n d Sa n ta an d h is el ve s w h en th ey w an t to co m e o u t o f th ei r se cr et p la ce s an d m ee t p eo p le . T h e m ag ic o f C h ri st m as is re al it y h er e. Sa n ta C la u s’ M ai n P o st O ffi ce re ce iv ed o ve r h al f a m il li o n vi si to rs an d le tt er s a ye ar . (T h e R o va n ie m i to u ri sm w eb si te cl ai m s 7 0 0 ,0 0 0 ); Sa n ta P ar k; Sa n ta C la u s V il la ge Fi n la n d Tu rk u h tt p :/ /w w w .c h ri st m as ci ty .c o m / (B u re au o f C u lt u ra l A ff ai rs , Tu rk u ) ‘C h ri st m as ci ty o f Fi n la n d ’ ‘T h e ge n u in e at m o sp h er e o f th e Tu rk u C h ri st m as C it y is b as ed o n th e lo n g tr ad it io n s o ft h e ci ty ’‘ Tu rk u th e C h ri st - m as C it y o fF in la n d ,g lo w s o fw ar m th an d tr ad it io n s fr o m th e en d o f N o ve m b er an d fa r in Ja n u ar y’ . C h ri st m as St re et , fe st iv al ev en ts G re en la n d T h e N o rt h P o le (G re en la n d as ga te w ay ) h tt p :/ /w w w .g re en la n d .c o m / (O ffi ci al to u ri sm an d b u si n es s si te s o f G re en la n d ) h tt p :/ /w w w .s an ta .g l/ Sa n ta C la u s ‘R eg ar d le ss o f w h ic h ve rs io n o f Sa n ta C la u s yo u b el ie ve in , h o w ev er , th er e is o n ly o n e th in g yo u n ee d to kn o w – th at Sa n ta C la u s li ve s in G re en la n d .’ N u u k h as Sa n ta ’s p o st o ffi ce an d p o st b o x. (5 0 ,0 0 0 le tt er s a ye ar ) Ic el an d D im m u b o rg ir in M yv at n s- sv ei t h tt p :/ /w w w .s an ta w o rl d .i s/ Sa n ta C la u s, Yu le La d s ‘F ro m ti m e im m em o ri al Sa n ta C la u s h as li ve d at D im - m u b o rg ir in M yv at n ss ve it , ca rr yi n g o u t h is w o rk o f gl ad - d en in g yo u n g h ea rt s o f al l ag es o ve r th e C h ri st m as p er i- o d . Fo r m an y ye ar s n o w Sa n ta h as b ee n an sw er in g le t- te rs fr o m ch il d re n , le av in g gi ft s in th ei r sh o es an d b ri n g- in g p eo p le p re se n ts at C h ri st m as . A ll th is h e h as d o n e fr o m h is h o m e in D im m u b o rg ir ’. C h ri st m as m ar ke t, Sa n ta C la u s p o st o ffi ce , Sa n ta in re si d en ce fr o m la te N o ve m b er N o rw ay D rø b ak h tt p :/ /w w w .j u le h u s. n o / sa k/ 0 0 0 0 0 3 .a sp (T re ga ar d en ’s C h ri st m as h o u se ) Ju le n is se n (‘ C h ri st m as el f) al so n is se r Ju le h u se t( th e C h ri st m as H o u se ) (1 0 m o n th s a ye ar ), p o st o ffi ce (2 0 ,0 0 0 le tt er s a ye ar ) N o rw ay Sa va le n h tt p :/ /w w w .j u le n is se n .n o / b ar n n is se .h tm l Ju le n is se n (‘ C h ri st m as el f) al so n is se r (g n o m es ) Sa n ta St re et , Sa n ta ’s h o u se an d w o rk sh o p (s ea so n al ); to u rs fr o m U K w it h A ct iv it ie s A b ro ad FENNIA 186: 1 (2008) 67Research note Sw ed en M o ra (D al ar n a) h tt p :/ /w w w .s an ta w o rl d .s e/ Sa n ta C la u s Sa n ta W o rl d – To m te la n d (Y ea r ro u n d ) U SA N o rt h P o le , A la sk a (n ea r Fa ir b an ks ) h tt p :/ /w w w .n o rt h p o le al as ka . co m / h tt p :/ /w w w .n o rt h p o le al as ka . co m /T h em e- C it y/ W el co m e. h tm l h tt p :/ /w w w .s an ta cl au sh o u se . co m / ‘W h er e th e Sp ir it o f C h ri st m as li ve s Y ea r ro u n d ’ Sa n ta C al u s is al o fe at u re d o n th e to w n ’s em b le m ‘W h en d ev el o p ed as a fu ll y im p le m en te d th em e ci ty ,w e w il l en th u si as ti ca ll y sa y, “S an ta h as p re p ar ed a se cr et ci ty , a ro m an ti c p la ce , fu ll o f li gh t an d th e m ag ic o f C h ri st m as ye ar -r o u n d . C o m e V is it N o rt h P o le , A la sk a! ”’ Sa n ta C la u s H o u se , 1 2 m Sa n ta st at u e, Sa n ta la n d R V P ar k, Sa n - ta ’s Su d s La u b d ro m at , P o st O f- fi ce , st re et b an es al l h av e C h ri st m as th em es (4 0 0 ,0 0 0 le t- te rs a ye ar ) U SA Sa n ta C la u s, In d ia n a h tt p :/ /w w w .s an ta cl au sm u se u m . o rg / h tt p :/ /w w w .l eg en d ar yp la ce s. o rg / (S p en ce r C o u n ty V is it o r’ s B u re au an d li n k to P o st O ffi ce an d o th er at tr ac ti o n s) Sa n ta C la u s Sa n ta C la u s an d A b ra h am Li n co ln (t h e co u n ty w as h is b o yh o o d h o m e) ar e u se d in th e co u n ty ’s p ro m o ti o n N o m yt h o lo gi ca l ac co u n t o f C h ri st m as lo ca ti o n gi ve n in st ea d an h is to ri ca la cc o u n ti s p ro vi d ed ,‘ C o m e ex p lo re th e h is to ry o f o u r m ag ic al to w n ; it ’s a gr ea t p la ce to vi si t w it h fr ee ad m is si o n !’ (S an ta C la u s M u se u m ) Sa n ta C la u s P o st O ffi ce is lo ca te d in th e K ri n gl e P la za M ai n ro ad th ro u gh to w n is kn o w n as th e C h ri st m as B o u le - va rd ; Sa n ta ’s C an d y C as tl e; Sa n ta C la u s M u se u m ; H o li d ay W o rl d ; Sa n ta ’s Lo d ge ; La ke R u - d o lp h C am p gr o u n d ; C h ri st m as La ke V il la ge th em ed ga te d co m m u n it y; P o st O ffi ce ; vo lu n - te er s en su re th at ea ch ch il d re - ce iv ed a re p ly fr o m Sa n ta C la u s (1 0 ,0 0 0 le tt er s a ye ar )