Our story!

Ten years ago, entrepreneur Anni Haapakoski and her children moved from Helsinki to Isojoje in South Ostrobothnia. Anni and her family have discovered the incredible and clean nature of South Ostrobothnia and Northern Satakunta, while at the same time realising that the region lacks quality tourist services. Unfortunately, when people are on the move, services are not available. This gave rise to an idea to develop nature tourism and services in Western Finland in 2017. Nature tourism ideas have been simmering in Ann’s mind for years, but with her other business running, these development ideas have been put on hold until the right moment.

At the beginning of December, Anni woke up in the middle of the night with a work-related matter on her mind. For some reason, sleep did not come into the eye and there was a phone in my hand. An announcement by the municipality of Siikainen about a recruitment of entrepreneurs in the south of Finland popped up on Facebook. After looking at the ad and the pictures, Anni even woke up her husband to find out what this place was! My spouse said in his dream that the South Pole is indeed a nice place by the lake. Sleep certainly did not come into sight at the end of the night. In the morning, Anni called Heli Kaskiluoto, Mayor of Siikainen. The plans for the development of the area, as told by Kaskiluoto, coincided perfectly with Ann’s ideas. The idea bank developed over all these years took on a life of its own. The enthusiasm to develop the South Pole was born and the moment felt very much right! The fact that the municipality of Siikainen is so heavily involved in the development of the entire South Ostrobothnia region was a strong argument in its favour. The municipality wants an entrepreneur to be innovative and develop services – a combination that is where Ann’s entrepreneurship and skills are strong. Anni is a professional in service production and productisation and in all her previous companies she has had the incredible ability and luck to always find the right people in the right places to do the work. It happens in the South End too!

However, in Ann’s 20-year entrepreneurial career, Eteläpää Resort is a completely exceptional business. Ann’s husband and three adult children and their spouses are involved in the company, providing Southhead with a wide range of expertise for start-up and development, from IT skills to coding and financial management to communications and marketing, international contacts and internationalisation. The South Head is truly a family project and you’re sure to find the whole of this big family, including the three underage children, at the South Head during the summer!

Welcome to Eteläpää Resort – where nature and well-being meet!