| Summary: | This paper evaluates the current state of literary tourism in Rovaniemi, along with examining literary heritage and literary tourism assets in the destination. The evaluation was implemented based on a series of seven economic indicators: SME activity within the literary tourism sector; the number of jobs supported by the literary tourism sector; the number of SME products and services connected to the literary tourism sector; the reach of those products and services into national and international markets; the extent of SME clusters in the literary tourism sector; the visibility of products and services connected to the literary tourism sector; lastly, public awareness and engagement with the literary tourism sector as a means of identifying destinations of choice for tourism activity. The economic indicators were determined in the baseline study of literary tourism conducted in the scope of the BLITZ Project – a project funded by the Northern Periphery and Arctic Programme, aiming to support businesses and to enhance the supply and quality of literary tourism products in the Northern Periphery and Arctic area. The research was approached by mixed qualitative and quantitative methods: desk research was conducted to begin with, serving the formation of questions for semi-structured interviews and questionnaires; questionnaires were distributed to tourism stakeholders in Rovaniemi, focusing on businesses in the tourism and hospitality fields, via online and offline channels; also three semistructured interviews were conducted with companies and organisations. In total, there were 19 responses collated, including the aforementioned interviews, amongst which three enterprises identified themselves as being involved in literary tourism. Results indicate that economic impacts and monetary value generated from the literary tourism sector are marginal in the present. Literary heritage and literary tourism assets in Rovaniemi have barely been deployed, leaving plenty of potential for product development and marketing. Collaboration and linkage with other tourism sectors are the first step to promote literary tourism in Rovaniemi to local audiences and subsequently international visitors.
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