Nights spent by foreign tourists in Finland up by 9%

September was a good month for Finnish tourism businesses, which recorded an increase in the number of overnight stays.

According to Statistics Finland, in September foreign tourists spent 0.51 million nights in Finnish accommodation establishments, this is 9% more compared to the same month last year. Overnight stays by resident tourists accounted for 1.3 million (2% more than in September 2018).

These figures are preliminary data from Statistics Finland’s statistics on accommodation establishments and they have been collected from accommodation establishments with at least 20 beds or caravan pitches with electricity connection.

Source: Statistics Finland

38% more Italians

Among the most important countries of inbound tourism to Finland, overnight stays by Italians increased most in absolute numbers, by 3,600 nights. This was 38% higher than in the year before. The biggest drop was seen in overnight stays by Swedes, down by 1,400 nights (3.1% less than in September 2018).

Still, Swedes were the biggest group of non-resident tourists with 44,600 overnight stays. The second largest group was Russians with 42,300 overnight stays. Germans were the third with 41,800 overnight stays, and fourth were Chinese with 32,500 overnight stays.

The fifth largest group were tourists from the United States (28,900 nights), sixth was British visitors (26,300 nights), seventh Japanese tourists (25,200 nights) and eight Estonian visitors (19,300 nights).

61% to Uusimaa; 6% to Lapland

Examined by region, in September overnight stays increased most in relative terms in Central Ostrobothnia, by 24.2%, and second most in Southwest Finland, by 16.5%. By contrast, the overall number of overnight stays decreased most in relative terms Satakunta, by 6%, and second most in Kymenlaakso, by 5.7%.

Accommodation establishments in Uusimaa recorded 308,000 overnight stays by non-resident tourists and those in Lapland 31,000. Overnight stays by non-resident tourists increased by 11.6% in Uusimaa and by 0.7% in Lapland from the same month one year ago.

The share of Uusimaa in all overnight stays by foreign visitors was 61% and that of Lapland 6%.

January to September 2019

In January to September 2019, a total of 18.04 million nights were spent in Finnish accommodation establishments. This was 3.5% higher than in the corresponding period one year earlier. In all, 12.69 million overnight stays were recorded for resident tourists and 5.35 million for non-resident tourists. The number of nights spent by resident tourists increased by 3.9% and nights spent by non-resident tourists by 2.4% from the previous year.

Among the most important countries of inbound tourism to Finland, overnight stays by Chinese increased most in absolute numbers, by 38,700 nights. This was 14.9% higher than in the year before. The biggest drop was seen in overnight stays by Russians, down by 9,600 nights (1.5% less) on January to September 2018.

In the last nine months, the biggest group of non-resident tourists were Russians with 637,000 overnight stays. The second largest group was Germans with 545,000 overnight stays. The third largest group was Swedes with 464,000 overnight stays, and fourth were Britons with 327,000 overnight stays.

The fifth largest group was Chinese tourists (299,000 nights), sixth was French tourists (267,000 nights), seventh visitors from the United States (250,000 nights) and eight was Dutch tourists (218,000 nights).