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Sauna, the new Finnish service sensation
It's official: an entirely new type of business, combining various different fields, is to be born out of the Finnish sauna. Jyväskylä Regional Development Company Jykes Ltd has launched the "Sauna from Finland" concept, with the aim of turning our familiar sauna into new and surprising service innovations.
Customarily, an innovation environment has been understood as a geographical area, but Jykes is confident that it can also be built around a powerful theme. "Mixing various fields is currently an international trend in the development of services. We were trying to find a theme that entrepreneurs in different fields could seize upon, and we discovered the sauna. We believe that the sauna concept can generate new hit products in, among others, the tourism, experience, wellness and creative industries, says Carita Harju, Development Manager of Jykes.
Demand for year-round wellness services
Jaakko Lehtonen, Director General of the Finnish Tourist Board (MEK), welcomes the sauna concept in Finland's image marketing. "The sauna fits in perfectly with the growing wellness tourism trend. There is an increasing number of people who are retiring and who are willing and able to use wellness services all year round.
Lehtonen is pleased to see that the concept is being created specifically in the Jyväskylä region, which so far has not boasted strong international attractions. "When an area creates a profile for itself, the requisite skills and level of supply will grow as a result. It is essential to develop the theme into a package that is large enough, integrated and of high quality. In Finland we tend to engage just in small endeavours where accommodation and catering have not been thought out. Finnish food is underrated for no reason at all. We should cherish our national specialties.
Starting from stories
The sauna has long and wide-reaching roots in Central Finland. The Muurame Sauna Village is the only Finnish sauna museum and plays a vital role in keeping sauna traditions alive. In addition, an entire cluster of sauna manufacturers has formed in the area, based around the largest sauna companies in the world. Architect Alvar Aalto, whose work has left its mark on the entire Jyväskylä region, emphasised the role of the sauna as an essentially Finnish cultural phenomenon. In 1924 Aalto made designs for a cultural sauna to be built on the Harju ridge in the centre of Jyväskylä, but they were never realized.
The Jyväskylä Region Development Company Jykes Ltd and the Keskisuomalainen newspaper are launching a competition for readers with the aim of finding sauna-related stories and pictures. The organizers may use these materials later in marketing materials and sauna products connected to the concept. Sauna stories and pictures will be published on the Keskisuomalainen website www.ksml.fi/sauna
until the end of August.
More information:
Ari Ålander, Marketing Director, Tourism, Jyväskylä Regional Development Company Jykes Ltd, tel. +35840 520 8452, ari.alander[at]jykes.fi
Carita Harju, Development Manager, Services, Jyväskylä Regional Development Company Jykes Ltd, tel. +35840 566 2481, carita.harju[at]jykes.fi
Miikka Raulo, Development Manager, JAMK University of Applied Sciences, tel. +35840 731 0022, miikka.raulo[at]jamk.fi
www.saunafromfinland.fi
About Jykes
Contact us
Honorary Consulates
Jyväskylä Regional Development Company Ltd.
Sepänkatu 4, FI-40100 Jyväskylä
Tel. +358 20 771 5600
Fax +358 14 652 129
