Kuhmo, the City of Literature
Kuhmo has been selected as one of the cities in UNESCO’s City of Literature Network. It is the home for the stories in Kalevala, and a pit stop of Elias Lönnrot’s travels to Viena Karelia. This gives the city great leverage on the literary tourism sector. However, the city has not successfully harnessed these strengths. Continue reading and find out the Trojan Horse for Kuhmo’s literary tourism.
Kuhmo as a Literary Tourism Destination
Kuhmo has many great, literary related attractions, such as the Hotel Kalevala and the Juminkeko cultural centre. However, the challenge in Kuhmo’s literary tourism is how to utilise these aspects to the fullest. The Hotel Kalevala would be a great literary tourism accommodation service, if the hotel’s story and design would be integrated into the stories of Kalevala. Also, the challenge in Kuhmo’s literary tourism development is the target market. From an outsider perspective, no one seemed to know what is the target market for their Kalevala tourism products. The problem with Finnish Kalevala as a literary tourism product is that people around the world are not familiar with it. So how can a book, which no one knows exists, bring customer to the area?
Music Tourism: the Trojan Horse?
Kuhmo is known for its Chamber Orchestra and the city of Kuhmo hosts each summer a Chamber Music Festival, which brings a huge flow of visitors to the area. Thus, why not use this as the Trojan horse for literary tourism? The attractions in Kuhmo need to be planned and polished to the last detail, after which the visitors arriving for the Chamber music could be possible literary tourists. People, who are interested in music are already interested in culture and thus the connection to literary tourism is not too far fetched.