TUI Holidaymakers Tricked: Booked Lapland, Ended Up 300 Miles Away
Holidaymakers booking TUI trips to Lapland have found themselves in a very different location. Customers expecting a festive break in Finland’s Arctic region were instead taken to Kainuu, nearly 300 miles away. Some now claim they were misled by the travel company’s advertising.
Chris Wals booked what he believed was a Lapland holiday for his family through TUI. The confirmation even listed the destination as 'Arctic Lakeland, Lapland'. Yet upon arrival, he discovered the hotel was in Kainuu, a region known for its tar production—not Father Christmas.
Customers like Vicky Skinner and Ben Lloyd faced similar surprises. Skinner’s trip to Ruka and Lloyd’s package to Vuokatti were both marketed as Lapland getaways. However, neither location lies within the official Lapland region, and Vuokatti isn’t even inside the Arctic Circle.
TUI flew these holidaymakers to airports such as Rovaniemi, Kittilä, Muoni, or Oulu, with direct routes from German cities like Frankfurt and Munich or via Zürich with Edelweiss. Transfers to the hotels were included, but the final destinations fell far short of expectations. When Wals questioned the discrepancy, TUI quoted an additional £5,000 to reach the real Lapland.
In response to complaints, TUI’s Facebook statement claimed that Arctic Lakeland offers winter experiences similar to Lapland. The company, however, did not dispute that the region is not part of Lapland at all.
The affected customers had booked holidays expecting Lapland’s snowy landscapes and festive charm. Instead, they arrived in Kainuu, a region with no connection to the advertised destination. TUI has yet to offer refunds or corrections for the misrepresented trips.
