Foreign tourist inflow rises by 6.7% in Feb

The number of recorded overnight stays by foreign tourists at Finnish accommodation establishments stood at 600,000 in February, posting 6.7 per cent growth year on year, according to the Statistics Finland.

The number of overnight stays by domestic tourists at accommodation establishments was almost 1.1 million in February, marking a 2.7 per cent rise year on year.

Close to 1.7 million overnight stays were recorded at Finnish accommodation establishments in February 2018, which was 4.1 per cent more than that one year earlier.

Among the most important source countries of inbound tourism to Finland, overnight stays by Chinese and Spanish visitors increased most in February.

Nearly 44,500 overnight stays were recorded for Chinese visitors at Finnish accommodation establishments, which was as much as 76.7 per cent more than in February 2017. Most of the overnight stays by Chinese visitors, 22,600, were recorded in Lapland, which was 53.1 per cent more than that one year before.

Overnight stays in Uusimaa by Chinese visitors increased by as much as 88.4 per cent and the accommodation establishments in Uusimaa recorded 16,300 nights.

Overnight stays recorded for Spanish visitors increased by 36.2 per cent and totalled good 11,600 in February. Almost all the overnight stays by Spanish tourists took place in Lapland and Uusimaa. In both regions, good 4,900 overnight stays were recorded for visitors from Spain. The share of Lapland in all the nights spent by foreign visitors was close on 45 per cent and the share of Uusimaa was 32 per cent.

British visitors made up the largest group of foreign tourists in February 2018. Finnish accommodation establishments recorded 61,600 overnight stays by British visitors, which was 1.1 per cent more than one year before. Germans came second with 56,600 overnight stays in February, posting an 8.0 per cent year-on-year growth. French and Russian visitors came next. Altogether, 53,600 overnight stays were recorded for French visitors, which was 12.8 per cent more than 12 months earlier. In contrast, the overnight stays by Russian tourists decreased by 16.3 per cent from February 2017 and amounted to close on 47,000 nights. The number of overnight stays by Dutch tourists increased by 10.0 per cent year on year to nearly 41,500 in February 2018, which made them the sixth largest group of tourists after the Chinese.