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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Environment
Pamela Duncan, Raphaëlle Aubert, Léopold Salzenstein, Zeynep Sentek, Lotta Närhi, Hanna Nikkanen and Anna Ruohonen

The Santa Claus effect: how expanding tourism ate into Lapland’s green space

People on red snowmobiles near Saariselkä, Finland
In popular ski resorts like Saariselkä, expanding tourism has lead to large areas of natural land being developed. Photograph: Delphotos/Alamy

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.

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