Finns’ summer trips to Estonia, Sweden drop

The number of cruise journeys made by Finns to Estonia and Sweden decreased in the May to August period this year from that of the corresponding period in 2017, said Statistics Finland.

The total number of overnight stays by Finns in the accommodation establishments of the two neighbouring countries was 550,000 and the total number of over-night cruises and same-day cruises was 220,000.

The number of leisure trips made by Finns to Sweden also saw a slight annual decline. Last summer, the number of trips made by Finns with overnight stay in Sweden was 310,000 and overnight cruises 200,000.

The number of leisure trips to Russia, however, remained on level with the previous year, despite the FIFA World Cup.

On the other hand, the beautiful summer this year motivated many Finns to go for domestic travel, which resulted in a year-on-year rise in domestic tourism, said Statistics Finland.

Also, more Finnish residents travelled to Southern Europe this summer compared to the previous year.

A total of 11.3 million domestic leisure trips with overnight stay were made in May to August. In all, 8.2 million of them were trips with free accommodation.

Leisure trips with overnight stay at paid accommodation facilities numbered 3.1 million.

As expected, July was the most popular month for travelling in Finland in summer, with 1.1 million domestic trips with paid accommodation and 2.7 million trips with free accommodation made in that month.

A total of 3.2 million leisure trips abroad were made in May to August. The figure includes trips with overnight stay, cruises and same-day trips. A total of 2.6 million leisure trips abroad included overnight stay in the destination country. The number of cruises with overnight stay on board only was 0.3 million. Nearly all cruises were made to Sweden or Estonia. In May to August, 0.3 million same-day trips abroad were also made. Of these, nearly one-half were day cruises to Estonia.

This summer, leisure trips were made mostly by air or by boat. The number of trips made by sea was 1.2 million and by air was 1.5 million. A total of 0.4 million trips were made by car outside the borders of Finland.

July was also the most popular month for travelling abroad in summer. However, the number of trips with overnight stay in the destination countries saw a decline this summer compared to the figure of July 2017.

Leisure trips made to the Central Europe also decreased from the previous summer. The number of trips to western Central Europe amounted to 340,000, of which 110,000 were trips to Germany. The number of trips to eastern Central Europe amounted to 160,000.

Trips to the heart of Southern Europe were also made, though the weather was hot in the entire region during this summer. A total of 660,000 summer trips were made to northern Mediterranean countries, which was even higher than the record number of 610,000 trips made the year before. Of the favourite Mediterranean countries, Spain and Greece lost some of their popularity, whereas the number of trips to Italy increased when compared to the corresponding period of the previous year.

The total number of trips with overnight stay in the destination countries fell slightly this summer from that recorded for the previous summer. Almost one quarter of these trips with overnight stay in the destination countries were package tours.