The attractive force of mythology? – Appeal of Kalevala among East Asian target markets

Authors

• Tuuli Pulkkinen Itä-Suomen yliopisto
• Mia Vepsäläinen Itä-Suomen yliopisto
• Henna Konu Itä-Suomen yliopisto
• Katja Pasanen Itä-Suomen yliopisto
• Raija Komppula

DOI: https://doi.org/10.33351/mt.122979

Keywords:

Kalevala, mythology in tourism, storytelling, customer insight, East Asia

Abstract

Myths and legends are representative of the unique cultural aspects of ethnic communities and, thus, fruitful resources of meaningful stories that can attract tourists and simultaneously convey meaning to their experiences. This study aims to increase understanding of the attractiveness of mythology-based tourism products among East Asian target markets. The aim is to examine how interested Chinese, Japanese and Koreans are in products that are based on stories and themes of Finnish mythology, as represented in the Finnish national epic Kalevala. Thematic interviews were conducted among Chinese, Japanese and Koreans living in Finland. In the interviews two stories from Kalevala (the stories of Aino and Sampo) were utilized along with three themes strongly linked to Kalevala: nature, sauna and bear. The findings indicate that Kalevala and Finnish mythology are not familiar enough in the Asian target markets to be a significant pull factor itself for the tourists. However, the interest in the stories and mythical content shows that they can be used as elements that add value to tourism products. The findings also show differences in what the Chinese, Japanese and Koreans value and pay attention to. The findings provide customer insight for tourism product development in the target markets. Attention should be paid to how the stories and mythical themes are integrated into tourism products. Highlighting the linkages of Kalevala to the cultures of the target markets could also make it more appealing and easier to understand.