Home > Statistics > Accommodation statistics > 2013 > May > Nights spent by foreign tourists in Finland up by 6 per cent in May 2013

Published: 18 July 2013

Nights spent by foreign tourists in Finland up by 6 per cent in May 2013

The number of recorded nights spent by foreign tourists at Finnish accommodation establishments in May 2013 was good 411,000, which is six per cent more than in May 2012. The number of nights spent by resident tourists went down by one per cent and totalled good 943,000 overnight stays. The total number of overnight stays increased by one per cent from last year and altogether slightly under 1.4 million overnight stays were recorded at accommodation establishments in May 2013. 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, and youth hostels.

Change in overnight stays in May 2013/2012, %

Overnight stays in Finnish accommodation establishments by Russian visitors increased heavily in May 2013 and they were, as usual, the largest group of tourists in Finland with nearly 122,000 overnight stays. The number was as much as 50.6 per cent higher than in the year before. Swedish visitors came next with good 43,000 overnight stays, even though the nights spent by them decreased by seven per cent from last year. German tourists came third with over 34,000 overnight stays, which was 9.9 per cent more than in May 2012. Overnight stays by British visitors have increased throughout the current year and in May they spent 22,000 nights in Finnish accommodation establishments, which was 12.1 per cent more than one year ago. Spanish visitors were the only tourists from Mediterranean countries whose overnight stays increased at Finnish accommodation establishments in May 2013. The number of nights recorded for them at accommodation establishments was 16.8 per cent higher than one year earlier. The number of nights spent by visitors from other important countries of inbound tourism to Finland decreased in May and the biggest drop was seen in overnight stays by Estonian tourists, 23.1 per cent. Overnight stays by French and Dutch visitors also decreased heavily, by 14-17 per cent from 2012.

By region, the total number of overnight stays increased most in the regions of Etelä-Savo, up by 20.1 per cent, and Kymenlaakso, up by 16.1 per cent. Overnight stays increased by 14.1 per cent in South Ostrobothnia and by 11.6 per cent in North Karelia. Overnight stays decreased most in Kanta-Häme, by 19.8 per cent, and in Päijät-Häme, by 12.5 per cent. The total number of overnight stays at all Finnish accommodation establishments in May was 1.1 per cent higher than one year earlier.

Change in overnight stays in May by region 2013 / 2012, %

Nights spent by foreign tourists in Finnish hotels increased by 3.1 per cent in May 2013

The total number of nights spent in hotels rose to nearly 1.2 million in May 2013, which was almost the same as one year before. Recorded nights spent by foreign tourists in hotels numbered 356,000. The number was 3.1 per cent higher than in May 2012. By contrast, overnight stays by resident tourists decreased by 1.4 per cent and accommodation establishments recorded a total of nearly 796,000 of them.

The occupancy rate of hotel rooms was 49.2 per cent in May. One year earlier, it was 51.3 per cent. Among the regions, the highest occupancy rates of hotel rooms were measured in Uusimaa, 66.5 per cent, and Åland, 52.2 per cent. In Vantaa, the hotel room occupancy rate was 67.8 per cent and in Mariehamn 63.6 per cent. Hotel room occupancy rate in Helsinki was 74.1 per cent.

In May 2013, the realised average price of a hotel room was EUR 93.18 per day for the whole country. Twelve months previously it was EUR 96.72.

Hotel room occupancy rate and the monthly average price

Total number of nights spent at all accommodation establishments fell by 1.3 per cent in January to May 2013

Between January and May 2013, the number of nights spent at accommodation establishments in Finland totalled good 7.2 million, which was 1.3 per cent down on the respective time period of last year. Overnight stays by resident tourists decreased by 1.9 per cent and accommodation establishments recorded a total of five million of them. Overnight stays by foreign tourists numbered 2.2 million, which was almost the same as in January-May 2012.

Nearly 715,000 nights spent at Finnish accommodation establishments were recorded for Russians and they were by far the largest group of foreign visitors in January to May 2013. Overnight stays of Russian visitors increased by 6.1 per cent from the respective time period of last year. British and German visitors came next. A total of around 173,000 overnight stays were recorded for both groups. Overnight stays by British tourists increased by 11.4 per cent while those by German tourists decreased by 2.7 per cent. Nearly 151,000 nights spent were recorded for Swedish visitors, which was 6.9 per cent less than twelve months earlier. Nights spent by visitors from France at Finnish accommodation establishments numbered 113,000 in January to May, which was 2.9 per cent more than in the same period twelve months earlier. Among the most important countries of inbound tourism into Finland, overnight stays of visitors from Japan increased most, or by 16.8 per cent, and almost 76,000 overnight stays were recorded for them. By contrast, overnight stays by Estonian tourists decreased heavily and 71,000 overnight stays were recorded for them at accommodation establishments in May 2013, which is 25.9 per cent less than in the corresponding time period last year.

Change in overnight stays in January-May 2013/2012, %

Source: Accommodation Statistics. Statistics Finland

Inquiries: Marjut Tuominen 09 1734 3556, Kari Keränen 09 1734 3208, liikenne.matkailu@stat.fi

Director in charge: Hannele Orjala

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Appendix tables

• Appendix table 1.1. Capacity and its utilization, May 2013 (18.7.2013)
• Appendix table 1.2. Capacity and its utilization, January-May 2013 (18.7.2013)
• Appendix table 2.1. Nights spend in all establishments, May 2013 (18.7.2013)
• Appendix table 2.2. Nights spend in all establishments, January-May 2013 (18.7.2013)
• Appendix table 3.1. Hotel capacity and capacity utilization, May 2013 (18.7.2013)
• Appendix table 3.2. Hotel capacity and capacity utilization, January-May 2013 (18.7.2013)
• Appendix table 4.1. Nights spend in hotels, May 2013 (18.7.2013)
• Appendix table 4.2. Nights spend in hotels, January-May 2013 (18.7.2013)
• Appendix table 5.1. Visitor arrivals and nights spend by country of residence, May 2013 (18.7.2013)
• Appendix table 5.2. Visitor arrivals and nights spend by country of residence, January-May 2013 (18.7.2013)
• Appendix table 6. Nights spend in all establishments, 2013 (18.7.2013)

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Updated 18.7.2013