{"id":2138,"date":"2015-12-07T03:25:19","date_gmt":"2015-12-07T08:25:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/digital.hbs.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/icehotel-8th-wonder-of-the-world\/"},"modified":"2015-12-07T03:29:39","modified_gmt":"2015-12-07T08:29:39","slug":"icehotel-8th-wonder-of-the-world","status":"publish","type":"hck-submission","link":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/icehotel-8th-wonder-of-the-world\/","title":{"rendered":"ICEHOTEL: 8th Wonder of the World?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Every year, 80 couples wed at a church made of snow and ice in the small village of Jukkasj\u00e4rvi in the north of Sweden. \u00a0They then\u00a0proceed to spend the wedding night in a hotel room with temperature around -5\u00baC (23\u00baF).\u00a0 After a night in Arctic sleeping bags, they are greeted with hot lingonberry juice and a diploma certifying the temperature and their stay [1].<\/p>\n

Welcome to the ICEHOTEL, an art project and the world\u2019s first and largest hotel built of snow and ice.<\/p>\n

\"Wedding<\/p>\n

Business Model<\/b><\/p>\n

ICEHOTEL is in the business of creating expenses [2].\u00a0 ICEHOTEL draws between 50,000 and 60,000 visitors every year to experience the Arctic Circle, watch Northern Light, and sleep in a sub-zero room made of entirely snow and ice [2].\u00a0 Every year the hotel is reconstructed with a different design, yet ICEHOTEL is able to offer profitable operations for more than 25 years at affordable prices starting at SEK 2,500 or under $300 [3].<\/p>\n

Operating Model<\/b><\/p>\n

Creating a sustainable business model in the Arctic Circle using transient materials is no easy task.\u00a0 The entrepreneurs and designers behind ICEHOTEL has started small and innovated their way into an environmentally sustainable attraction that puts Jukkasj\u00e4rvi in the forefront of eco-tourism in Sweden and in the World.<\/p>\n

Strategic Proximity to Torne River<\/i><\/p>\n

The hotel has around 65 rooms and has an area of 5,500 square meters [3].\u00a0 Building this requires about 30,000 cubic meter of snice and 1,000 metric tons of ice [2].\u00a0 Snice is a combination of ice from the Torne River and air, and has higher density than natural snow, which provides better insulation and melts slower.\u00a0 Ice is harvested directly from the thawing Torne River in the spring, where 1,000 tons of ice represents only 2.5 seconds water flow in the river [2].\u00a0 The river freezes in the second half of October and artists arrive in November to work on the hotel for a few weeks before opening in mid-December.\u00a0 River starts to thaw towards the end of March, providing only a short-window of three months of stay at the hotel.<\/p>\n

The proximity of the Torne River establishes an efficient supply chain that minimizes transportation, energy use, and effect on the environment.\u00a0 It also ensures a speedy construction of the hotel that maximizes length of stay for visitors and drives bottom-line to the Company.<\/p>\n