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Published: 6 July 2018

Growth in overnight stays by foreign tourists in Finland halted in May 2018

Number of overnight stays by foreign tourists at Finnish accommodation establishments decreased in May 2018. Nearly 413,000 overnight stays were recorded for them, which was 3.9 per cent lower than one year before. In contrast, the number of nights spent by resident tourists increased by 2.2 per cent and they spent good one million nights at accommodation establishments. In total, Finnish accommodation establishments recorded close on 1.5 million overnight stays, which was nearly the same as in May 2017, up by just 0.4 per cent. 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 May 2018/2017, %

Swedish tourists were the largest group of foreign visitors in May

Swedes were the largest group of foreign tourists in May 2018. Good 48,000 overnight stays were recorded for them at Finnish accommodation establishments, which was, however, 6.2 per cent lower than in the previous year. Russians were in second position with 37,000 nights spent, even though the number fell by as much as 25.0 per cent from the previous year. German visitors made up the third largest group with good 36,000 overnight stays. The figure was 2.5 per cent higher than one year previously. Visitors from United States and Great Britain came next. A total of good 26,000 overnight stays were recorded for visitors from the United States, up by 5.8 per cent from the previous year. By contrast, overnight stays by British visitors decreased by 8.6 per cent from last year and almost 24,000 nights were recorded for them. In all, 76 to 80 per cent of overnight stays by tourists from United States and Great Britain were directed at Uusimaa.

In all, 255,000 overnight stays by foreign tourists were recorded in Uusimaa in May 2018, which covered 62 per cent of all overnight stays by foreign tourists in Finland. Growth was one per cent year-on-year. The biggest groups of foreign visitors in Uusimaa next to tourists from United States and Great Britain were Germans, Swedes and Russians. Overnight stays by Chinese and Japanese visitors focused primarily on Uusimaa.

Overnight stays by Norwegian visitors increased most in May

Among the most important countries of inbound tourism to Finland, overnight stays by Norwegians increased most in May. Nearly 15,000 overnight stays were recorded for them at Finnish accommodation establishments, which was 29.0 per cent more than one year before. About the same number of overnight stays were recorded for Estonian visitors but their overnight stays decreased by 7.7 per cent year-on-year. In addition to Russians, big decreases were seen in the overnight stays of French and Swiss tourists in May 2018. Overnight stays by French visitors decreased by 21.3 per cent, and those by visitors from Switzerland by 15.1 per cent compared to May 2017.

Examined by region, overnight stays increased in May 2018 most in Päijät-Häme, up by 16.6 per cent. Overnight stays increased by 13.0 per cent in South Ostrobothnia and by 9.2 per cent in North Karelia. In Satakunta and Pohjois-Savo, overnight stays increased by around 7 per cent in each. By contrast, the total number of overnight stays decreased by 13.5 per cent in Central Ostrobothnia and by around 9 per cent in both Etelä-Savo and Ostrobothnia. Overnight stays in the whole country remained almost on level with the previous year.

Change in overnight stays in May by region 2018/2017, %

Overnight stays at hotels decreased by one per cent in May

The total number of nights spent in hotels was around 1.2 million in May 2018, which was one per cent lower than twelve months earlier. Overnight stays by foreign tourists decreased by 4.3 per cent and hotels recorded close on 356,000 of them. Recorded nights spent by resident tourists in hotels numbered good 876,000. The number was 0.5 per cent higher than in May 2017.

The occupancy rate of hotel rooms was 52.4 per cent in May. One year earlier, it was 53.8 per cent. Among the regions, the highest occupancy rates of hotel rooms were measured in Uusimaa, 73.1 per cent, and Varsinais-Suomi, 58.4 per cent. In Vantaa, the hotel room occupancy rate was 73.1 per cent and in Turku 64.3 per cent. In Helsinki, the hotel room occupancy rose to 80.2 per cent.

In May 2018, the realised average price of a hotel room was EUR 102.59 per day for the whole country. Twelve months previously, it was EUR 99.67.

Hotel room occupancy rate and the monthly average price

Total number of nights spent at all accommodation establishments grew by 2.6 per cent in the January to May 2018 period

In January to May 2018, the number of nights spent at accommodation establishments in Finland totalled good 8.1 million. This was 2.6 per cent higher than in the corresponding period one year earlier. Nearly 5.5 million overnight stays were recorded for resident tourists and good 2.6 million for non-resident tourists. The overnight stays of resident visitors increased by 1.6 per cent and those of non-resident visitors by 4.9 per cent from the previous year's corresponding period.

The number of nights spent by Russian visitors at accommodation establishments in Finland totalled almost 362,000 in January to May 2018, which was 1.1 per cent up on the respective period of 2017. They were the biggest country of inbound tourism to Finland. German and British tourists came next. Overnight stays recorded for Germans increased by 6.9 per cent year-on-year and totalled nearly 224,000 at accommodation establishments. Overnight stays by British visitors numbered nearly 214,000, which was 3.4 per cent up on the respective time period of last year. Swedish tourists came fourth with good 172,000 overnight stays. This was, however, 5.4 per cent lower than in the January to May 2017. French visitors rose to the fifth largest group surpassing Dutch visitors. Altogether, 166,000 overnight stays were recorded for French tourists and 136,000 for Dutch visitors. The overnight stays of visitors from France increased by 10.4 per cent and those of Dutch visitors by 14.8 per cent year-on-year.

Among the most important countries of inbound tourism to Finland, overnight stays by Chinese and Spanish visitors increased most in January to May 2018. Nights spent by Chinese visitors rose to close on 122,000, which was 17.6 per cent more than in January to May 2017. Accommodation establishments recorded 57,000 overnight stays for Spanish visitors, which was 19.2 per cent more than in the year before. The biggest drop came from overnight stays by Japanese visitors. Overnight stays recorded at accommodation establishments for them totalled good 70,000, which was 16.0 per cent fewer than in the corresponding period of the year before.

Change in overnight stays in January-May 2018/2017, %

Source: Accommodation Statistics. Statistics Finland

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

Director in charge: Mari Ylä-Jarkko

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Appendix tables

• Appendix table 1.1. Capacity and its utilization, May 2018 (6.7.2018)
• Appendix table 1.2. Capacity and its utilization, January-May 2018 (6.7.2018)
• Appendix table 2.1. Nights spent in all establishments, May 2018 (6.7.2018)
• Appendix table 2.2. Nights spent in all establishments, January-May 2018 (6.7.2018)
• Appendix table 3.1. Hotel capacity and capacity utilization, May 2018 (6.7.2018)
• Appendix table 3.2. Hotel capacity and capacity utilization, January-May 2018 (6.7.2018)
• Appendix table 4.1. Nights spent in hotels, May 2018 (6.7.2018)
• Appendix table 4.2. Nights spent in hotels, January-May 2018 (6.7.2018)
• Appendix table 5.1. Visitor arrivals and nights spent by country of residence, May 2018 (6.7.2018)
• Appendix table 5.2. Visitor arrivals and nights spent by country of residence, January-May 2018 (6.7.2018)
• Appendix table 6. Nights spent in all establishments, 2018 (6.7.2018)

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Updated 6.7.2018