The shortening winter seasons have already had an impact on the tourist industry, with operators cancelling tours last year due to an unusually snow-free November.2 million in 2010, according to Statistics Finland. The rise followed national airline Finnair dramatically expanding its routes between Europe and Asia and promoting Finland as a stopover hub.But Lapland is also the homeland of the indigenous reindeer-herding Sami people, who protest that some in the tourist industry spread offensive stereotypes about Sami people and seek to profit from their ancient culture. The Sami also object to the growing number of "igloo" hotels in the region, which are a non-Lapland tradition borrowed from elsewhere in the Arctic. Last year, the Sami Parliament issued guidelines for "ethically responsible" behaviour from tour operators and visitors in order to preserve Sami culture.At its centre, a wooden, fairytale-esque cabin houses Santas grotto -- since the 1980s, tourism chiefs have set out to market the main town, Rovaniemi, as the worlds official home of Santa Claus. The regional council recently laid out a four-year plan for making tourism more environmentally and socially friendly, while still encouraging it to grow, she added."We are very dependent on flight traffic," Loiro, from the regional council, tells AFP.Botswana-born Beets and his Finnish wife Veronika set up Bearhill Husky, close to Rovaniemi, in 2012, offering dog-sled safaris through the Lapland forest.

The council plans to encourage tourists to pay to offset their air-travel carbon emissions as well as develop better rail and public transport links."This includes respecting the Sami culture or using local food, or using biofuels," Loiro said. However, the spectre of mass tourism is a growing concern in a region where residents have traditionally valued tranquility and closeness to nature above all else. After an official photograph, available to buy afterwards for 45 euros (), the visitors are ushered towards the exit."Eco-aware touristsHis voice all but drowned out by the howls of 120 black, white and brown huskies, Beets says his growing business caters to more and more eco-aware tourists.So does Santa have less time for delivering presents, now that record numbers of people are coming to see him? "Definitely not," he responds, without hesitation. You just need to know how to be in millions of different places at the same time," he says.The 33 cabins at the Nova Skyland Hotel, a striking building of wood and glass which opened in November 2017, are regularly fully booked.9 million overnight stays last year, up from 2.His kennels are a long way south of the Sami reindeer-herding area but he says that "a well-trained dog team, working responsibly" ought not pose a disturbance to others anyway.The Chinese government, too, keen to establish a presence in the Arctic, has also encouraged its companies to develop tourism in Lapland.Sami representatives accuse some tourism providers of pretending to be Sami when they are not, or selling products and tourist attractions portraying Sami people as magical and primitive.

With his knee-length white beard, trademark red Party Tent Factory robes and oversize grey slippers, Santa switches from Finnish to French to chat to his next visitors, Celia and Jeremie from southern France. Party peopleBooming tourism helped drive Rovaniemis unemployment rate down to below 10 percent last December, its lowest since 1990 according to the town council."I hope that this individual tourism, people staying in Airbnbs, people travelling individually, will grow," dog-sledding entrepreneur Valentijn Beets tells AFP. The concerns are not shared by everyone, though. "We werent disappointed. More visitors are now coming to experience winter in the Arctic than ever before. "Theyre actually spreading the money straight to the people without any major players in between."We are in the Arctic Circle now, and time is magic here.". "Its only a picture that the tourism industry has created and developed," she says.His clients care about animal welfare and green credentials, he said.1billion) to the region last year.Back at Santas village, complete with mocked-up presents and rounds of jolly Christmas songs, the last holidaymakers leave the grotto for the evening and the red- and green-clad elves move the countdown on the wall one day closer to Christmas.In Finlands remote Lapland region, the Santa Claus Village amusement park is a snowy wonderland of reindeer rides, ice castles, snowmobiles and igloo hotels where Christmas holds sway 365 days a year."Dog-sledding and longer hikes are popular with French visitors for example, British travellers are especially interested in snowmobiles, and the Asian tourists are most keen on seeing the Northern Lights," Sanna Karkkainen, head of Visit Rovaniemi, tells AFP. And a recurring grievance is the popularity of accommodation-sharing site Airbnb, says Satu Loiro, Lapland Regional Councils senior tourism advisor.The parliament proposal says the igloos risk creating a "mongrel" and homogenised culture in the region, and suggests instead that tourist providers build accommodation relevant to Laplands history, such as the Sami "goahti" -- a teepee-like wooden tent traditionally used by reindeer herders."If, for example, one person refrains from wearing Sami dress because they do not want to be photographed by tourists, that is one person too many," the proposal warned."Super visit, Santa was very kind," Jeremie tells AFP.Some 45,000 Chinese tourists visited Lapland in 2018 -- four times more than in 2015.Local media regularly carry stories of tourists soiling the pristine wilderness with rubbish and empty beer cans, or of hordes of visitors causing disturbances in town. "After practising that for a few centuries, I think Im managing it quite well.Locals blame the rentals for noise, overcrowding and mess, as well as pushing up housing غير مجاز مي باشدts. "If you want to differentiate yourself from your competitors, this is a growing group of people who think that (being eco-friendly) is important," he says. Laplands Regional Council says that tourism brought in one billion euros (. Authorities in Rovaniemi, on the Arctic Circle, face a dilemma: how to reap the economic benefits, while preventing irreversible damage to one of the worlds most vulnerable wilderness regions.

Time is magic hereLoiro believes that the tourism industry is learning to better take into account the regions many competing interests. She said there was now a "responsible tourism network" of operators who recently published a list of "100 deeds for sustainable tourism"." Every year this decade, the visitor figures to Lapland have reached new highs, hitting 2.Husky rides, among the most popular tourist attractions in Lapland, have also been singled out for criticism by the Sami community, which has herded reindeer across the areas vast fells and forests for over 3,000 years."This week we had the first direct Turkish Airlines flight from Istanbul, which of course opens up Rovaniemi to 20 new countries," Karkkainen says. Official statistics suggest that visitors from China spend over three times as much on average as holidaymakers from some other countries.Ethically responsible tourism Once known by the now obsolete term "Lapps", the Sami are spread out across the northern parts of Sweden, Finland, Norway and Russias Kola Peninsula. Another lucrative market, the Middle East, is also catching on."Almost every day there are people coming to the Sami area asking Where can I see the shamans, where are the Sami witches?" Tiina Sanila-Aikio, president of Finlands Sami Parliament, tells AFP.Investment from China Hotelier Tian Zhang, who moved from China to northern Finland 17 years ago, recently became the first foreign investor in Laplands hotel scene along with a group of her friends from home.Sami representatives claim the dogs, which are not a native Lapland tradition, distress the reindeer which freely roam the forests.Otherworldly Arctic landscapesEvery passing winter brings record visitors to Lapland including soaring numbers of Chinese in recent years, but also much-needed revenue.