A small town in Norway's far north hopes to become the 'snowman capital of the world' as it seeks a share of the lucrative tourism boom in the Arctic, organisers said.
The project is still in the early stages but will likely feature a snowman theme park "a bit inspired by the Disney parks", a snow hotel, and open air activities across northern Norway's pristine Arctic.
A group of investors in Maalselv, a town of 6 600 inhabitants located near Tromsoe far above the Arctic Circle, are behind the plans that are aimed at rivalling the popular Santa Claus' Village in Rovaniemi in neighbouring Finland.
"The snowman is the authentic and natural character that you associate with winter. Santa Claus is a vulgar, commercial and plastic figure who is not recommendable for children," the project's mastermind Even Hegbom told AFP.
'We have spectacular landscapes'
"The starting point is better here: we have spectacular landscapes, we're close to the fjords and the sea and high snowy mountains, while Finland's forests and small mountains are somewhat less impressive," he said.
Maalselv aims to make northern Norway a top tourist attraction in the region, outdoing Finnish Lapland which each year draws hundreds of thousands of tourists from around the world, including many Europeans - Britons, Danes, Germans and French - who occasionally make a one-day return trip to meet Santa Claus.
"The Finns made a mistake by positioning themselves on a market that only works a few weeks a year. We want to be operational year-round," Hegbom said.
Norwegian airport authorities have already begun the process of changing the name of the local Bardufoss airport to "Snowman International Airport", he added.
The cost of the project was not disclosed.
The snowman park was expected to take at least 15 years to see the light of day, providing the effects of global warming have not ravaged the local environment by then.