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Ambassador Paivi Pohjanheimo: Santa Claus - a memorable figure of Finland's tourism sector
Finland Ambassador in Bucharest Paivi Pohjanheimo stated on Thursday that the Santa Claus character has an important influence over the tourism sector in her country.
Paivi Pohjanheimo attended the arrival of "Santa Claus from Finland" in Bucharest. He will meet with the children until 21 December at the "Santa Claus Kingdom."
"Each Ambassador of Finland aims to meet, some day, the one and only Santa Claus, who came from Finland. You have to understand how excited I am," the Ambassador confessed in her speech.
In her opinion, Santa Claus is the most well-known Finn on a worldwide level. "Santa Claus is one of the most well-known personalities in the world and I believe people around the world remember that he lives in Finland. This means that Santa Claus is the most popular Finn on the planet," Paivi Pohjanheimo added.
She says Santa wishes "all children to have a merry Christmas." "Santa Claus believes in values such as peace, the joy of being together, generosity, the power to share good and compassion, he doesn't exclude any children for reasons of race, nationality, but on the contrary, he wants to present all children the magic of Christmas," the Ambassador revealed.
The diplomat has spoken about "the Santa Claus phenomenon" in the world. According to her, the Santa of Finland has received, throughout the time, over eight million letters from children in 200 countries.
"Santa Claus is a memorable figure in the tourism sector in Finland. (...) His house became a popular travel destination," the Ambassador added, bringing to mind that tourists from Japan, the US or Romania travel to Lapland in order to see Santa's house or workshop. Moreover, Santa Claus' route is monitored with the help of modern technology, on the night in which he brings presents to children all around the world," the diplomat mentioned.
In his turn, "Santa Claus from Finland" stated he is for the third time in Bucharest. "Imagine how good I feel here, in this warm weather as if it were summer, when in our country there are minus 30 degrees and snow of a meter height," he stated.
He also conveyed an advice for everyone. "Don't forget to love each other," was Santa's message.