Scheduled to begin on the final day of July, Neste Oil Rally Finland will again attract roughly 300 000 rally fans from Finland and abroad to the Jyväskylä Region. The largest event in the Nordic countries involves almost a hundred companies who bring about 12 000 corporate guests to Central Finland.
The Finnish round of the World Rally Championship, Neste Oil Rally Finland, is a high profile event not just for rally tourists but companies, too. Different partners and sponsors are on prominent display at the event.
According to estimates provided by marketing company AKK Sports Oy the economic impact of corporate guests on the Jyväskylä Region amounts to almost EUR 200 million. The majority of companies involved in the rally are Finnish. The majority of corporate guests are Finnish, too, reveals Anu Helin, AKK Sports marketing manager with responsibility for customer events.
The rally also attracts many international companies which bring foreign visitors to watch the event. According to Helin by far the largest group of foreign visitors, however, are ordinary rally tourists and they stay in Jyväskylä longer than corporate guests. Corporate guests often spend only one day at the rally and the different events surrounding it.
The biggest companies may bring as many as several hundred guests to the rally. In addition to this each rally team will invite its own guests. Of the teams, Ford has traditionally brought a lot of guests, since they have Finnish drivers, Helin explains.
Ford acts as an official rally partner and for the fourth year in a row is the events official make of car. Each year the team brings almost 500 corporate guests to Central Finland. Neste Oil Rally Finland is the biggest and most high-profile motorsport event in the Nordic countries. Better visibility is nowhere to be had, says Fords PR manager Riitta Salin. Many of Fords guests come exclusively for the rally. Naturally the team lays on other activities for its guests.
The programme always depends on the group and activities take lots of different forms. Many visitors take part in a meeting, for instance, or spend a social evening together, Salin adds.
One of the rallys highlights is the Killeri super special stage run on both the Thursday and Friday evenings. Located close by is the VIP Village, where visitors can enjoy something to eat and drink as the drivers go head-to-head. According to Helin the VIP Village concept is marketed to companies as a motorsport event which brings together customers and partners. At Killeri visitors can see the drivers close up and hear their last-minute comments before the start of the stage, since the competitors drive through the Killeri VIP Village to reach the start, Helin explains.
For Fords corporate guests, too, the Killeri super special stages have always been a high point of the rally.
At Thursdays and Fridays events we have generally had around 400 guests, Salin states. Fords largest single event for corporate guests will be staged at Ouninpohja, where up to 350 corporate guests are expected.
These will include people from the retail network in Finland and Fords European management, Salin continues.
AKK Sports also arranges a number of events for visitors out on the special stages. This year four events will be held on the forest stages. In addition to these, other companies as well as present and former rally drivers organise their own VIP get-togethers and supporters events in the depths of the countryside.
Helin explains that the number of corporate guests has risen over the years, as well as the standard they expect. The number of women has grown, too.
Visitors are going to increasingly take advantage of the event as a whole. Customers are keen to see new services each year, Helin points out.
In recent years the traditional offering of fun and relaxed hospitality for corporate guests has become more like a complete day of rally-related activity. People look increasingly for different kinds of accommodation options, to which adventure or experience packages are often added, such as a boat trip.
By Markus Mykkänen Photo by McKlein