Home > Statistics > Accommodation statistics > 2016 > November > Nights spent by foreign tourists in Finland up by 9.5 per cent in November 2016

Published: 19 January 2017

Nights spent by foreign tourists in Finland up by 9.5 per cent in November 2016

Overnight stays by non-resident tourists increased by 9.5 per cent in November from the year before and accommodation establishments recorded good 361,000 of them. The number of nights spent by resident tourists went up by 3.1 per cent and totalled 958,000. Good 1.3 million overnight stays were recorded at Finnish accommodation establishments in November 2016, which was 4.8 per cent more than in November 2015. 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 November 2016/2015, %

Russians passed Swedes in October to become the biggest group of visitors and they also retained their first position in November with nearly 54,000 overnight stays. Their overnight stays increased by 1.2 per cent from the year before. Swedish visitors were in the second position and nearly 34,000 overnight stays were recorded for them, which is 8.4 per cent up on November 2015. Germans remained in the third position with 29,000 overnight stays. The number of overnight stays of German tourists grew by 8.2 per cent when compared with November 2015. Britons were fourth with 23,500 nights spent, even though the number fell by 2.1 per cent from the previous year. They were the only one of the most important countries of inbound tourism to Finland whose overnight stays diminished in November 2016.

The biggest growth percentage of foreign tourists came from overnight stays of tourists from the United States. They spent 15,000 nights at accommodation establishments, which was 28.5 per cent more than in November 2015. The growth in overnight stays is partly explained by the big international Slush startup and technology event arranged in Helsinki. In addition to visitors from the United States, the biggest increases came from overnight stays of Spanish, Norwegian and Chinese visitors, which for all grew by around one fifth compared with November 2015. The overnight stays of French visitors also showed a strong increase. Nearly 10,000 overnight stays were recorded for them in November 2016, which was 18.2 per cent more than one year before.

Around 15,000 overnight stays were recorded for both Japanese and Estonian visitors at Finnish accommodation establishments in November. Overnight stays by Japanese tourists increased by 4.8 per cent and those by Estonian tourists by 7.8 per cent year-on-year. Overnight stays by Dutch visitors grew by 7.4 per cent; their overnight stays amounted to only 8,000 nights, however.

By region, the total number of overnight stays at accommodation establishments increased most in South Karelia, up by 26.2 per cent in November. In Lapland, overnight stays increased by 22.3 per cent. In Ostrobothnia and Central Ostrobothnia, the growth amounted to around 17 per cent in both, and in Kymenlaakso overnight stays increased by 16.1 per cent. The biggest drop in overnight stays was recorded in Etelä-Savo, 6.5 per cent. Approximately three per cent fewer overnight stays were recorded in Satakunta, Central Finland and Kainuu than twelve months earlier. In the whole country, overnight stays increased by 4.8 per cent from November 2015.

Change in overnight stays in November by region 2016 / 2015, %

In November 2016, the number of nights spent in hotels was 4.6 per cent higher than one year previously.

In November 2016, the total number of nights spent in hotels was nearly 1.2 million, which was 4.6 per cent higher than twelve months earlier. The number of nights spent by non-resident tourists increased by 10.6 per cent from the previous year and that of nights spent by resident tourists by 2.4 per cent. Overnight stays by non-resident tourists rose to 331,000 nights and resident tourists stayed nearly 851,000 nights at hotels.

The occupancy rate of hotel rooms in the whole country was 53.0 per cent in November. One year earlier, it was 50.7 per cent. Among the regions, the highest occupancy rates of hotel rooms were measured in Uusimaa, 66.7 per cent, and Pirkanmaa, 56.7 per cent. In Vantaa, the hotel room occupancy rate rose to 72.3 per cent and in Tampere to 63.6 per cent. The hotel room occupancy rate in Helsinki was 71.0 per cent.

In November, the realised average price of a hotel room was EUR 97.72 per day for the whole country. Twelve months previously, it was EUR 93.66.

Hotel room occupancy rate and the monthly average price

Total number of nights spent at all accommodation establishments went up by 2.7 per cent in the January to November 2016 period

Between January and November 2016, the number of nights spent at accommodation establishments in Finland totalled 18.8 million. This was 2.7 per cent higher than in the corresponding period one year earlier. Good 13.7 million overnight stays were recorded for resident tourists and 5.1 million overnight stays for non-resident tourists. The overnight stays of resident visitors increased by 2.5 per cent and those of non-resident visitors by 3.2 per cent from the previous year's corresponding period.

In January to November, the number of nights spent by Russian visitors at accommodation establishments in Finland totalled close on 629,000, which was 13.1 per cent down on the respective time period of the previous year. However, Russians were the largest group of foreign visitors in January to November, while Swedish visitors came next with nearly 526,000 overnight stays. Overnight stays by Swedish visitors remained on level with 2015, up by just 0.4 per cent. The third largest group was German tourists for whom accommodation establishments recorded close on 508,000 nights spent. Their overnight stays decreased by 0.6 per cent from the respective time period of the previous year.

British visitors stayed 315,000 nights at accommodation establishments and visitors from the United States good 219,000 nights. Nights spent by British tourists went down by 2.7 per cent, whereas those spent by visitors from the United States went up by 15.0 per cent in January to November 2016. Overnight stays by French visitors rose to good 210,000 nights. The figure was 8.0 per cent higher than in the corresponding period in 2015.

Among the most important countries of inbound tourism to Finland, overnight stays by Chinese visitors increased most during the January to November period. Nights spent by Chinese visitors rose to nearly 208,000, which was 23.3 per cent more than in the same period twelve months earlier. Nearly 197,000 nights were recorded for Japanese visitors and the growth amounted to 6.4 per cent compared to January to November 2015.

Change in overnight stays in January-November 2016/2015, %

Source: Accommodation Statistics. Statistics Finland

Inquiries: Marjut Tuominen 029 551 3556, Kari Keränen 029 551 3208, liikenne.matkailu@stat.fi

Director in charge: Mari Ylä-Jarkko

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Appendix tables

• Appendix table 1.1. Capacity and its utilization, November 2016 (19.1.2017)
• Appendix table 1.2. Capacity and its utilization, January-November 2016 (19.1.2017)
• Appendix table 2.1. Nights spent in all establishments, November 2016 (19.1.2017)
• Appendix table 2.2. Nights spent in all establishments, January-November 2016 (19.1.2017)
• Appendix table 3.1. Hotel capacity and capacity utilization, November 2016 (19.1.2017)
• Appendix table 3.2. Hotel capacity and capacity utilization, January-November 2016 (19.1.2017)
• Appendix table 4.1. Nights spent in hotels, November 2016 (19.1.2017)
• Appendix table 4.2. Nights spent in hotels, January-November 2016 (19.1.2017)
• Appendix table 5.1. Visitor arrivals and nights spent by country of residence, November 2016 (19.1.2017)
• Appendix table 5.2. Visitor arrivals and nights spent by country of residence, January-November 2016 (19.1.2017)
• Appendix table 6. Nights spent in all establishments, 2016 (19.1.2017)

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Updated 19.1.2017