Foreign tourist stays in Finland still 85% less than before pandemic

Overnight stays by foreign tourists decreased by 85% in May compared with the same month of 2019, before the Covid-19 pandemic erupted.

According to Statistics Finland's figures, the accommodation establishments in the Nordic country recorded last month a total of 0.85 million overnight stays (46% less than two years earlier), but only 72,000 of those nights were spent by foreign visitors.

Overnight stays by resident tourists also fell abruptly nationwide, especially in Greater Helsinki, where they recorded a 49% drop compared to May 2019.

Outside the capital region, the average fall was 24%.

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.

January-May

In January to May 2021, a total of 3.91 million nights were spent in Finnish accommodation establishments. This was 22% less than in the corresponding period one year earlier. In all, 3.65 million overnight stays were recorded for resident tourists and 0.26 million for non-resident tourists.

The number of nights spent by resident tourists increased by 7.9% and nights spent by non-resident tourists declined by 84% from the previous year.

Overnight stays declined from all of the most important countries of inbound tourism to Finland.

The smallest drop (-31%) was seen in overnight stays by Estonians. Overnight stays by them declined by 18 400 nights.

The biggest drop was seen in overnight stays by Russians, down by 233,900 nights (-96.6%) year-on-year.