More saunas are opening around the world, and the people behind them are starting to ask what they are really offering. At World Sauna Forum 2026 in Jyväskylä, Finland, sauna professionals, entrepreneurs and enthusiasts from many countries kept coming back to the same question. Does the sauna boom mean building more saunas, or making the experience itself better?
For Finns, sauna has never been a trend, it is just part of daily life, the place where you slow down and take a breath. The discussions in Jyväskylä suggested that the rest of the world may now be looking for exactly that.
Building a sauna community from scratch
Carita Harju remembers when sauna professionals had no international community to turn to. As founder and executive director of Sauna from Finland, she set out to build one, and the network now connects approximately 250 companies. Requests for Finnish sauna expertise keep growing, which she finds perfectly natural.
Her explanation has little to do with business. Life has become busy and noisy. Notifications, deadlines and expectations follow people everywhere, and plenty of them have trouble doing nothing at all. She finds it striking that some people now have to be taught how to keep quiet, stay present and slow down. In a Finnish sauna the phone stays outside and nobody has to perform. Warmth, breathing and time for yourself are all that is on offer, and that may be the real reason sauna is winning people over.
Sauna leaves the luxury hotel
Traditionally, in many countries, sauna belonged to luxury hotels and exclusive spas, a treat for a special occasion. Eric Härkönen, who founded Vettä Nordic Spa in Canada, sees guests changing their habits, with more of them treating sauna as a regular part of their wellbeing. For his business, this opens a door to introduce authentic Finnish sauna culture, one guest at a time.
Research on sauna and health is useful, no doubt. It explains why sauna can do you good, and it gives newcomers a reason to try. But a sauna visit offers things that no study really captures, an evening with people you love, a conversation that finally goes somewhere, a feeling of belonging, a quiet moment. Those social and cultural sides have always been at the heart of Finnish sauna, and they could matter even more as the wellness industry matures abroad.
A beautiful sauna does not guarantee a memorable one
International interest is good news for Finnish sauna and tourism companies, yet a sauna alone does not make an experience authentic. Marjo Määttä of Rukan Salonki, who speaks for the sauna tourism sector, says visitors need more than the room. They need the culture and traditions that come with it. Guests increasingly ask what sauna means to Finnish people and how it fits into their everyday life. What they remember afterwards is the atmosphere, the warm welcome, the surrounding nature and the feeling of having really rested. The temperature and the design come far behind.
Finns know how to build saunas, and they know how to live with them too. The second skill does not fit in a shipping container, so it has to travel with people.
Keeping quality as the industry grows
As the industry grows, so does the question of what makes a sauna authentic. Tiia Valkama of Revontuli Resort values the Sauna from Finland network and its Authentic Finnish Sauna Experience certification, which gives practical guidance on cleanliness, safety and the guest experience as a whole. Even in Finland, where nobody needs to be told what a sauna is, shared criteria help companies improve and train their teams. For visitors from abroad, it can be the difference between a quick visit and a real encounter with Finnish sauna culture.
What counts in the end is how people feel before, during and after the visit.
A business event where meetings happen on the sauna bench
World Sauna Forum does not look like most industry events. The programme includes research, innovation, business networking and talks on the future of sauna. Still, many of the meetings people remember happen elsewhere, on the sauna benches, during a cool down, in conversations that begin with no agenda at all. Participants keep coming back to the same point, that meeting face to face and building relationships across borders is something a screen cannot replace.
That is also the thinking behind the Sauna from Finland network. The future of the industry cannot be built by companies working alone. It needs collaboration, shared expertise, solid partnerships and a better understanding of what makes a sauna experience worth having.
Beyond manufacturing
Finland sees room to go further than sauna manufacturing, with expertise to offer in hospitality, tourism, education, experience design, wellness services and quality development. Its most valuable contribution may also be the simplest. We live in a time that pushes everyone to do more, achieve more and measure more, while Finnish sauna says the opposite, that feeling well does not always need another activity. Sometimes the best experience is one where nothing is expected of you.
The sauna boom will create new business, but its greatest potential may be helping people reconnect with themselves, with each other and with the world around them. The world needs better sauna experiences and a better understanding of why sauna matters, something Finland has been practising for generations.
Watch the World Sauna Forum 2026 film
Discover the people, conversations and experiences behind the global sauna movement. Watch the film on YouTube
To learn more about the network and its Authentic Finnish Sauna Experience certification, visit the Sauna from Finland website.
Featured interviews included Carita Harju, founder and executive director of Sauna from Finland, Eric Härkönen of Vettä Nordic Spa in Canada, Marjo Määttä of Rukan Salonki and Tiia Valkama of Revontuli Resort, as well as Arttu “Ara” Laitinen, a popular Finnish social media influencer, YouTuber and extreme sports athlete. World Sauna Forum 2027 will take place in Finland in June 2027.
