Lack of visitors

The last three worker elves at Father Christmas's official headquarters in Finland's Arctic have been fired as Santa Park grapples with its finances. Lack of visitors has meant that the number of Santa's little helpers is now down to two, a far cry from plans to employ 120 staff on a monthly wage when the park opened. About 800km north of Helsinki, this is where letters addressed just 'To Santa' arrive. The elves were supposed to help Santa and guide visitors around the park. During these five years (Santa Park) has been able to employ a fraction of the 120 staff for a maximum of three months (a year), usually for about eight weeks," Rajala said, adding the sacked elves had been on temporary leave since last August. Santa Park made its first operating profit last year, but the company's bottom line remained in the red as it still has annual costs of about Ђ400 000 (a$492,700) related to the initial construction of the park to pay for the next 15 years.