Home > Statistics > Accommodation statistics > 2015 > April > Nights spent by foreign tourists in Finland decreased by 4.4 per cent in April

Published: 11 June 2015

Nights spent by foreign tourists in Finland decreased by 4.4 per cent in April

The number of recorded nights spent by foreign tourists at Finnish accommodation establishments in April 2015 was 289,500, which was 4.4 per cent lower than in April 2014. By contrast, overnight stays by resident tourists increased by 1.4 per cent and totalled nearly 1.1 million. The total number of overnight stays at accommodation establishments was around 1.4 million, which was almost the same number as in the year before. 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.

Change in overnight stays in April 2015/2014, %

The steep decline in overnight stays by Russian visitors tapered off slightly in April 2015. Altogether, close on 35,000 overnight stays were recorded for them at Finnish accommodation establishments, which was 41.1 per cent lower than in April 2014. Russians and Swedes were the largest groups of foreign tourists in April, with Germans in the third place. Altogether, 33,500 nights spent were recorded for Swedish visitors, which was close on one per cent more than twelve months earlier. German visitors spent 23,000 nights in Finland, which was 11.7 per cent higher than in April 2014. British visitors came next with 23,000 overnight stays. The number was 3.0 per cent lower than last year.

Thirteen to fourteen thousand overnight stays were recorded for Estonian and Norwegian visitors. Overnight stays by Estonian tourists increased by 5.0 per cent, while those by Norwegian tourists decreased by 8.1 per cent. Overnight stays recorded for visitors from the United States declined by 9.3 per cent in April and totalled close on 11,000 nights at Finnish accommodation establishments. Among the most important countries of inbound tourism to Finland, the biggest increase was recorded for Chinese tourists, who spent nearly 7,000 nights at Finnish accommodation establishments. The number was 49.3 per cent higher than in April 2014.

By region, the total number of overnight stays increased in April most in Kymenlaakso, up by 13.5 per cent. The number of overnight stays in Ostrobothnia grew by 10.7 per cent, and in Uusimaa and Åland, overnight stays grew by around five per cent in each. The biggest drop in overnight stays was recorded in South Karelia, 12.9 per cent. In Etelä-Savo, overnight stays decreased by 7.1 per cent and in Päijät-Häme and Kainuu they declined by six per cent in each. Overnight stays in the whole country remained on level with April 2014.

Change in overnight stays in April by region 2015 / 2014, %

Overnight stays at hotels remained on level with April 2014

The total number of nights spent in hotels was good 1.1 million in April 2015, which was almost the same as one year before. Overnight stays by resident tourists increased by 1.9 per cent and accommodation establishments recorded 870,000 of them. By contrast, overnight stays by foreign tourists decreased by 5.6 per cent year-on-year and hotels recorded a total of 256,000 of them in April 2015.

The occupancy rate of hotel rooms in the whole country was 47.0 per cent in April. One year earlier, it was 46.2 per cent. Among the regions, the highest occupancy rates of hotel rooms were measured in Uusimaa, 55.1 per cent, and North Ostrobothnia, 50.5 per cent. In Vantaa, the hotel room occupancy rate rose to 68.2 per cent and in Kalajoki to 72.6 per cent. The hotel room occupancy rate in Helsinki was 56.7 per cent.

In April, the realised average price of a hotel room was EUR 90.49 per day for the whole country. Twelve months previously, it was EUR 89.85.

Hotel room occupancy rate and the monthly average price

Total number of nights spent at all accommodation establishments fell by 2.2 per cent in January to April

Between January and April 2015, the number of nights spent at accommodation establishments in Finland totalled close on 5.7 million. This was 2.2 per cent lower than in the corresponding period one year earlier. The number of nights spent by resident tourists increased by 1.6 per cent while that of nights spent by foreign tourists decreased by 11.0 per cent. Nearly 4.1 million overnight stays were recorded for resident tourists and close on 1.6 million overnight stays were recorded for non-resident tourists.

April still did not bring any change to the drop of overnight stays by Russian visitors. Between January and April 2015, the number of nights spent by Russian visitors at accommodation establishments in Finland totalled 300,000, which was 45.7 per cent down on the respective time period of last year. They were, however, by far the largest group of foreign visitors in January to April, as German visitors came next with nearly 148,000 overnight stays. Overnight stays of Germans went up by 8.3 per cent. British visitors came third with almost 141,000 overnight stays. The number of nights recorded for them was 1.3 per cent higher than in the respective period one year earlier.

Swedish visitors spent 115,000 nights at accommodation establishments. Their overnight stays increased by 5.1 per cent in January to April. French visitors spent nearly 105,000 nights and Dutch visitors almost 64,000 nights at accommodation establishments. Overnight stays of French visitors increased by 7.8 per cent, whereas those of Dutch visitors decreased by 4.5 per cent from the corresponding period last year. Overnight stays recorded for Japanese visitors declined by 12.5 per cent and totalled close on 52,000.

Among the most important countries of inbound tourism to Finland, overnight stays by Chinese visitors increased most, or by 34.5 per cent, during the January to April period. The number of overnight stays by Chinese visitors rose to good 31,000.

Change in overnight stays in January-April 2015/2014, %

Source: Accommodation Statistics. Statistics Finland

Inquiries: Marjut Tuominen 029 551 3556, Ossi Nurmi 029 551 2984, liikenne.matkailu@stat.fi

Director in charge: Hannele Orjala

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Appendix tables

• Appendix table 1.1. Capacity and its utilization, April 2015 (11.6.2015)
• Appendix table 1.2. Capacity and its utilization, January-April 2015 (11.6.2015)
• Appendix table 2.1. Nights spend in all establishments, April 2015 (11.6.2015)
• Appendix table 2.2. Nights spend in all establishments, January-April 2015 (11.6.2015)
• Appendix table 3.1. Hotel capacity and capacity utilization, April 2015 (11.6.2015)
• Appendix table 3.2. Hotel capacity and capacity utilization, January-April 2015 (11.6.2015)
• Appendix table 4.1. Nights spend in hotels, April 2015 (11.6.2015)
• Appendix table 4.2. Nights spend in hotels, January-April 2015 (11.6.2015)
• Appendix table 5.1. Visitor arrivals and nights spend by country of residence, April 2015 (11.6.2015)
• Appendix table 5.2. Visitor arrivals and nights spend by country of residence, January-April 2015 (11.6.2015)
• Appendix table 6. Nights spend in all establishments, 2015 (11.6.2015)

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Updated 11.6.2015