Foreign tourists recorded 450,000 overnight stays at Finnish accommodation establishments in November, which was 3.4% more than the same month last year. Overnight stays by resident tourists increased by 5.5% and 1,11 million nights were registered for them in the same period.
In total, Finnish accommodation establishments recorded 1.56 million overnight stays, which was 4.9% more than one year before.
The figures as a whole seem good, but the distribution of tourist visits has been very uneven.
Thus, while regions such as Southeast Finland and Satakunta experienced strong monthly increases, others like Kymenlaakso (Kouvola) and the Åland archipelago suffered drops.
Lapland (whose tourism sector is more important for the regional economy) registered a decline in the number of overnight stays by foreign visitors.
These figures are preliminary data from Statistics Finland and they have been collected from accommodation establishments with at least 20 beds or caravan pitches with electricity connection.
Source: Statistics Finland.
Russians, the biggest group
Among the most important countries of inbound tourism to Finland, overnight stays by Germans increased most in absolute numbers, by 2 800 nights. This was 8.3% higher than in November 2018.
The biggest drop was seen in overnight stays by Britons, down by 6,200 nights. Their overnight stays were 18.9% down.
The biggest group of non-resident tourists were Russians with 57,700 overnight stays.
The second largest group was Germans with 36,700 overnight stays. The third largest group was Swedes with 32,900 overnight stays, and fourth were Britons with 26,700 overnight stays. The fifth largest group was Chinese (20,400 nights), sixth was US tourists (19,800 nights), seventh Estonians (18,800 nights) and eighth Norwegians (16,000 nights).
Increases in Turku and Pori
Examined by region, overnight stays (by residents and non-residents) increased most in relative terms in Southwest Finland (Turku region), by 31.2%, and second most in Satakunta (Pori), by 14.5%. By contrast, the overall number of overnight stays declined most in relative terms in Kymenlaakso (Kouvola), by 12.7% and second most in Åland, by 12.6%.
Accommodation establishments in Uusimaa (Helsinki region) recorded 222,000 overnight stays (+7.1%) by non-resident tourists and those in Lapland 90,000 (-5.7%). This decrease in overnight stays in Lapland is linked to the drop in visits by British tourists.
The share of Uusimaa in all overnight stays by foreign visitors was 49% and that of Lapland 20%.
January to November
In aggregated terms, from January to November 21.32 million nights were spent in Finnish accommodation establishments. This was 4.1% more than in the corresponding period one year earlier. In all, 15.07 million overnight stays were recorded for resident tourists (+4.5%) and 6.25 million for non-resident tourists (+3.3%).
Source: Statistics Finland.
Among the most important countries of inbound tourism to Finland, overnight stays by Chinese increased most in absolute numbers, by 42,100 nights. This was 14% higher than in the year before. The biggest drop was seen in overnight stays by Russians, down by 10,900 nights. Their overnight stays were 1.4% down.
Still, Russians were the biggest group of non-resident tourists with 740,000 overnight stays. The second largest group was Germans with 617 000 overnight stays. The third largest group was Swedes with 535 000 overnight stays, and fourth were Britons with 376 000 overnight stays.
The fifth largest group was Chinese (343 000 nights), sixth was French (293 000 nights), seventh US tourists (289 000 nights) and eighth was Dutch (239 000 nights).
