Home > Statistics > Accommodation statistics > 2017 > November > Nights spent by foreign tourists in Finland up by 14.9 per cent in November 2017

Published: 18 January 2018

Nights spent by foreign tourists in Finland up by 14.9 per cent in November 2017

Nights spent by foreign tourists at Finnish accommodation establishments continued to grow, by 14.9 per cent from last year and good 418,000 nights were recorded for them in November 2017. The number of nights spent by resident tourists went up by 4.0 per cent and totalled 998,500. Slightly over one 1.4 million overnight stays were recorded at Finnish accommodation establishments in November 2017, which was 7.0 per cent more than in November 2016. 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 2017/2016, %

Russia, Sweden and Germany were the biggest countries of inbound tourism in November 2017

The top three continued strong in November 2017. Russians were the largest foreign group of visitors in last year’s October and they also retained their first position in November with nearly 59,000 overnight stays. Overnight stays by Russian visitors increased by 9.8 per cent from the previous year. Swedes came second and nearly 35,000 nights were recorded for them at Finnish accommodation establishments, which was 3.2 per cent more than one year earlier. Germans were third with 31,600 nights spent. Their number of overnight stays increased by 9.3 per cent. British tourists came fourth with nearly 30,000 recorded overnight stays, up by 25.9 per cent from November 2016.

Nights spent by visitors from all the most important countries of inbound tourism to Finland continued to grow in November 2017

Over 16,000 overnight stays were recorded for visitors from Estonia, Norway and the United States. Nights spent by Norwegians increased by 12.3 per cent and overnight stays by visitors from the U.S. went up by 8.9 per cent from November 2016. The growth in overnight stays by Estonians was 3.9 per cent. However, the largest growth percentage for overnight stays came from overnight stays by Chinese visitors. Accommodation establishments recorded 15,500 overnight stays for them, which was as much as 45.6 per cent more than one year before. Overnight stays by visitors from Spain and Italy also showed a strong increase. Overnight stays by Spanish tourists increased by 30.7 per cent and those by Italians by 28.2 per cent from November 2016. The overnight stays of Italians totalled good 11,000 and those of Spanish tourists over 8,000. The growth in overnight stays is partly explained by the big international Slush startup event arranged in Helsinki.

Examined by region, overnight stays increased in November most in Kanta-Häme, 20.9 per cent, and in Satakunta, 17.8 per cent. Overnight stays increased by 13.6 per cent in Uusimaa and by 11.0 per cent in Lapland. In contrast, the total number of overnight stays decreased in Central Ostrobothnia by 16.8 per cent and in Päijät-Häme by 15.9 per cent. In the whole country, overnight stays increased by 7.0 per cent from November 2016.

Change in overnight stays in November by region 2017/2016, %

Hotel stays increased by 7.2 per cent in November year-on-year

In November 2017, the total number of nights spent at hotels was close on 1.3 million, which was 7.2 per cent more than twelve months earlier. Overnight stays by non-resident tourists increased by 13.5 per cent and hotels recorded a total of 377,000 of them. Hotels stays recorded for resident tourists totalled almost 888,000, which was 4.7 per cent more than one year before.

The occupancy rate of hotel rooms was 55.7 per cent in November. One year earlier, it was 53.1 per cent. Among the regions, the highest occupancy rates of hotel rooms were measured in Uusimaa, 72.0 per cent, and Pirkanmaa, 60.6 per cent. In Vantaa, the hotel room occupancy was 74.8 per cent and in Tampere, 68.2 per cent. The hotel room occupancy rate in Helsinki was 78.3 per cent.

In November, the realised average price of a hotel room was EUR 104.59 per day for the whole country. Twelve months previously, it was EUR 98.37.

Hotel room occupancy rate and the monthly average price

Total number of nights spent at all accommodation establishments went up by 5.0 per cent in the January to November 2017 period

Between January and November 2017, the number of nights spent at accommodation establishments in Finland totalled nearly 19.8 million. This was 5.0 per cent more than in the corresponding period one year earlier. Nearly 13.9 million overnight stays were recorded at accommodation establishments for resident tourists and 5.9 million overnight stays for non-resident tourists. The overnight stays of resident visitors increased by 1.4 per cent and those of non-resident visitors by 14.5 per cent from the previous year's January to November.

The number of nights spent by Russian visitors at accommodation establishments in Finland totalled nearly 728,000 in January to November 2017, which was 15.9 per cent up on the respective period of 2016. They were still the biggest country of inbound tourism to Finland. Germans came second with 577,000 overnight stays. Their number of overnight stays was 13.8 per cent higher than in January to November 2016. Swedes were in third position with 566,000 overnight stays. The increase from the corresponding period last year was 7.4 per cent. British visitors came next with close on 389,000 overnight stays. Their overnight stays at accommodation establishments increased by 23.3 per cent.

Nights spent by visitors from all the most important countries of inbound tourism to Finland increased in January to November 2017. Of them, overnight stays by Chinese visitors increased most and their number of overnight stays rose to good 282,000, which was 35.9 per cent more than in the corresponding period in 2016. In addition to Chinese visitors, tourists from the United States, France, Japan and the Netherlands reached over 200,000 overnight stays. Of them, overnight stays by Dutch visitors grew most, 27.4 per cent.

In addition to those mentioned above, the overnight stays by Spanish tourists grew strongly in January to November 2017. Their number of overnight stays was nearly 123,000, which was 18.4 per cent more than in January to November 2017. Overnight stays by Norwegian, Swiss and Estonian tourists remained under 10 per cent.

Change in overnight stays in January-November 2017/2016, %

Source: Accommodation Statistics. Statistics Finland

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

Director in charge: Sami Saarikivi

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Appendix tables

• Appendix table 1.1. Capacity and its utilization, November 2017 (18.1.2018)
• Appendix table 1.2. Capacity and its utilization, January-November 2017 (18.1.2018)
• Appendix table 2.1. Nights spent in all establishments, November 2017 (18.1.2018)
• Appendix table 2.2. Nights spent in all establishments, January-November 2017 (18.1.2018)
• Appendix table 3.1. Hotel capacity and capacity utilization, November 2017 (18.1.2018)
• Appendix table 3.2. Hotel capacity and capacity utilization, January-November 2017 (18.1.2018)
• Appendix table 4.1. Nights spent in hotels, November 2017 (18.1.2018)
• Appendix table 4.2. Nights spent in hotels, January-November 2017 (18.1.2018)
• Appendix table 5.1. Visitor arrivals and nights spent by country of residence, November 2017 (18.1.2018)
• Appendix table 5.2. Visitor arrivals and nights spent by country of residence, January-November 2017 (18.1.2018)
• Appendix table 6. Nights spent in all establishments, 2017 (18.1.2018)

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Updated 18.1.2018