Govt investment to continue in tourism

The government has decided to invest in tourism sector to ensure its continued growth.

The decision has been taken as tourism in Finland has been on the rise again this year, said an official press release.

“Tourism is one the spearheads of the Government’s mid-term policy review session. We want to ensure that tourism continues to grow. The growth must be managed, however, because interesting high-quality travel products entice tourists to return to Finland and share their experiences with others,” Minister of Economic Affairs Mika Lintilä said.

The new Travel 4.0 policy package aims to intensify travel marketing efforts, improve the digital skills of tourism companies, expand the range of all-season services, and improve the conditions for nature tourism and the regulatory environment.

Another priority is to achieve a better balance between skilled labour supply and demand, because the tourism sector is already now experiencing shortage of labour.

One of the key themes is all-season services. A food tourism competition is one way to promote Finland’s hidden travel gems that facilitate all-season services.

The total number of registered overnight stays grew by nearly 7 per cent in the first half of the year, and the number of overnight stays by foreigners by as much as 17 per cent.

Food tourism is a growth sector, and one of the keys to more all-season services is to invest in food tourism.

The winners of the Hungry for Finland food tourism competition were announced in a tourism seminar on all-season services organised by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment.

The competition was organised by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, the Central Union of Agricultural Producers and Forest Owners (MTK), Visit Finland and Haaga-Helia, and it aimed to encourage food- and tourism-related networks to develop new local food tourism products.

“The food tourism competition is an excellent way to highlight our good products, but it also challenges companies to develop even better products where experiences are packed into a combination that serves all the senses,” Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Jari Leppä emphasises.

The jury chose the Olo Creative Kitchen’s classic menu ‘Journey’ as Finland’s best food tourism product in 2017. Three other significant food tourism acts were also awarded: the mushrooms and herbs weekend of Hotel Punkaharju, the guided tour of Fiskars Village organised by three local producers of craft beverages – Fiskars Brewery, Kuura Cider, and Ägras Distillery, and the Åland Harvest Festival organised every year in September.

The SMAKU guided food walk in Porvoo and Studio Restraurant Tundra in Kuusamo also received commendation. Altogether 73 highly skilled candidates took part in the Hungry for Finland competition.

The all-season tourism seminar organised by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment attracted more than 270 travel journalists to Helsinki on 6 September.