Honkarakenne signs accommodation agreement for Beijing Winter Olympics

Honkarakenne has signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Chinese company Zhangjiakou Winter-Olympic Town Tourism Development Company, it announced on Friday, saying it would deliver around 2,000 square metres of accommodation for the Haitou Valley project.

The Finnish log-home manufacturer described Haitou Valley as a sports and well-being resort located north of Beijing, near the alpine sport venues of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics.

It said it had been operating in China since 2014, providing different types of spa and accommodation buildings.

In 2017, Honkarakenne completed the ‘Welcome Center’ and a separate coffee shop in Haitou Valley.

“We are tapping into our decades-long experience of implementing projects linked to the Olympics,” said Honkarakenne president and chief executive officer Marko Saarelainen.

“For instance, we were involved in delivering the Finland House for the Nagano 1998 Winter Olympics and we delivered a large resort in Sochi before the 2014 Winter Olympics held there.”

The cooperation agreement was signed in connection with the export promotion trip led by minister Anne-Mari Virolainen as part of the Finnish president Sauli Niinistö’s state visit to China in January.

Marko Saarelainen as well as the head of Honkarakenne’s office in China, Tuomas Saarelainen, also took part in a high-level climate seminar organised by the Finnish Embassy in Beijing.

“The ecological and healthy wood houses of Honkarakenne are an important part of the Finnish winter sports and the related know-how,” Marko Saarelainen added.

Honkarakenne said it was investing in the Asian market, adding that during the current strategic period, its aim was to increase the percentage of its turnover originating from Asia by the end of 2021.