Visit of foreign tourists ups 15.4% in April

Nights spent by foreign tourists at Finnish accommodation establishments increased by 15.4 per cent in April this year compared to the corresponding month of last year, according to Statistics Finland.

About 345,000 nights spent by tourists were recorded in April 2017. The number of nights spent by resident tourists went up by 4.4 per cent and totalled slightly under 1.2 million at accommodation establishments.

A total of about 1.5 million overnight stays were recorded at Finnish accommodation establishments in April 2017, which was 6.7 per cent more than one year earlier.

Nearly 11,000 overnight stays were recorded for Spanish visitors at Finnish accommodation establishments, which was as much as 87.8 per cent more than in April 2016.

Most overnight stays by Spanish visitors were recorded in Uusimaa, 5,500 nights, and Lapland, 2,770 nights.

Overnight stays recorded for Japanese visitors increased by 49.1 per cent, and good 9,130 nights were recorded for them at accommodation establishments in April 2017. Japanese visitors mostly stayed overnight in Uusimaa, where 8,252 nights were spent. The share of Uusimaa in all overnight stays by foreign visitors was 53 per cent and that of Lapland around 14 per cent.

Russians were still the largest group of foreign tourists in April 2017. Nearly 43,000 overnight stays were recorded for them at Finnish accommodation establishments, which was 35.6 per cent more than one year before. Overnight stays recorded for Swedes increased by 8.1 per cent year-on-year and totalled 38,000 at accommodation establishments.

For the whole country, Swedes were the second largest group of foreign tourists in April 2017. Germans came third with close on 28,000 nights spent, which was 6.1 per cent up on April 2016. British and Norwegian visitors came next. Good 22,300 overnight stays were recorded for British visitors at accommodation establishments, which was 5.6 per cent more than one year before. Overnight stays by Norwegians were up by 30.3 per cent from the year before and they spent nearly 20,300 nights in Finland.

Overnight visits by tourists from almost all the most important countries of inbound tourism into Finland increased in April. In addition to those mentioned above, overnight stays by Swiss tourists increased by 30 per cent and those by Chinese visitors by 26 per cent compared to 2016. Of the most important countries of tourism, overnight stays by visitors from Estonia and the United States diminished by six to seven per cent.

Examined by region, overnight stays increased in April most in South Karelia, up by 20.5 per cent. Overnight stays increased by 19.3 per cent in Kainuu and by 16.5 per cent in Lapland. Growth of over ten per cent was reached in Central Finland, 12.1 per cent, and in North Karelia, 10.3 per cent. By contrast, the total number of overnight stays decreased, for example, in Central Ostrobothnia, by 23.6 per cent, and in Kanta-Häme, by 15.4 per cent. In the whole country, overnight stays increased by 6.7 per cent from April 2016.

Between January and April 2017, the number of nights spent at accommodation establishments in Finland totalled good 6.3 million. This was 7.0 per cent higher than in the corresponding period one year earlier. Nearly 4.3 million overnight stays were recorded for resident tourists and good two million for non-resident tourists. The overnight stays of resident visitors increased by 2.0 per cent and those of non-resident visitors by 19.5 per cent from the previous year's first four months.