When thinking about literary tourism and Finland in general, Kuhmo is not the first place to pop in mind. Located in eastern Finland, Kuhmo is a home to roughly 8,000 inhabitants that live mainly by agriculture, forestry and tourism. Tourism in Kuhmo is actually growing and some of the most significant developments on that front relate to literary tourism.
What makes Kuhmo interesting as a literary tourism destination is the fact that the Finnish national epic, Kalevala, was compiled there by Elias Lönnrot, a Finnish poet. However, Kuhmo doesn’t have a variety of services to offer for those interested in our national epic; Juminkeko is an information center for Kalevala and Karelian culture, and a local hotel called Hotel Kalevala is somewhat themed after Kalevala. Other than that, not many services exist. Previously, Kuhmo used to have a small Kalevala village where houses of the legendary characters existed along a walking trail. Currently, village has been left unattended and does not attract much visitors.
Personally, I don’t find this information promising, but I do believe Kuhmo has potential to become a solid literary tourism destination. Hardest part might be attracting new entrepreneurs who have innovative ideas regarding literary tourism. Kalevala offers many myths and stories to take inspiration from, but popularizing it especially among younger folk is a challenge.
It isn’t like Kuhmo is a bad destination – literary tourism is just executed poorly. Such a niche tourism required services and activities to be spot-on. Kuhmo has restaurants, public services, beautiful nature and interesting history, and personally I would love to visit to see if my experience so far is correct. Kuhmo even has a Winter War museum, a nature center specializing in beasts of prey, a chamber orchestra and much more. While the infrastructure to support tourism exists, literary tourism in the area is small so far. It doesn’t have to be so, but my impression so far is that not enough investments and professionalism is involved in the development of the region.
Am I being to too critical? What do you think of Kuhmo as a literary tourism destination?