As leaf peeping travel grows in popularity around the world, Visit Finland’s new autumn foliage live map lets travellers know what the up-to-date situation is regarding leaf peeping opportunities.
Nature in Finland bursts into autumn splendor, creating a magical scenery. This phenomenon is known as the autumn foliage, or ´ruska´ in Finnish. The word origins from the Inari Sámi word ´ruške´ and North Sámi word ´ruški´. It also resembles ´ruskea´ which means brown in Finnish. However, brown is just one colour in the ruska palette – during September and October Finland turns into a sea of yellow, red, and orange. Ruska moves from the north to the south with a speed of 500 kilometers in just a couple of weeks.
“The ruska situation is forecast with the help of AI (artificial intelligence) and the results are displayed in an easy-to-use map view. With a help of our Autumn Foliage Live Map you may find out when and where to travel in Finland to see the colour galore in its full glory,” says Heli Jimenez, Senior Director, International Marketing and PR at Business Finland.
Available through the popular visitfinland.com -site, the live map has been developed together with tech and marketing partners.
“The service utilises data from sources including road cameras all over Finland in order to chart the progress of ruska during the autumn season. AI processes and refines the information, and with the help of weather reports creates a real-time visual guide to the stages of fall from Hanko in the south to Enontekiö in the north,” explains Jimenez.