Foreign tourist inflow increases by 6% in October

After a small drop in the summer season, the number of overnight stays by foreign visitors started to grow again in October 2018.

About 390,000 overnight stays were recorded for them at Finnish accommodation establishments, which was 6.0 per cent more than one year before, according to Statistics Finland.

The number of nights spent by resident tourists went up by 1.5 per cent and totalled almost 1.2 million at accommodation establishments.

In all, slightly under 1.6 million overnight stays were recorded at Finnish accommodation establishments, which was 2.6 per cent more than in October 2017.

The top three vary their order monthly but they clearly stand out from the others. Russians were the largest group of foreign tourists with good 42,500 overnight stays in October. Their overnight stays increased by 6.5 per cent from the year before. Swedes came second and a total of nearly 37,000 overnight stays at Finnish accommodation establishments were recorded for them.

However, the number was 2.3 per cent lower than one year earlier. Germans came third with close on 32,000 overnight stays. Their number of overnight stays was 8.2 per cent higher than in October 2017. Visitors from the United States mentioned below took the fourth position.

About 21,000 overnight stays for tourists from the United States and 8,500 for Italians were recorded in October 2018. The number of nights spent by tourists from the United States increased by 35.3 per cent and those by Italians by 20.9 per cent from October last year.

In addition to visitors from the United States, tourists from Great Britain, China and Estonia reached over 20,000 overnight stays. Overnight stays by Chinese tourists by 10.7 per cent and those by Estonian tourists by 4.7 per cent from October last year. In contrast, overnight stays by British tourists decreased a little, by 0.9 per cent from last year.

The biggest decreases in overnight stays among the most important countries of inbound tourism to Finland came from Japan and Spain in October 2018.

Visits of both decreased by 10 per cent from last year's October. Overnight stays recorded for Japanese visitors at accommodation establishments numbered 16,000, while overnight stays by Spanish tourists stood at 7,500.

Examined by region, the total number of overnight stays increased in October most in Central Ostrobothnia, by 16.8 per cent. In Lapland, overnight stays increased by 10.5 per cent. Overnight stays increased by 10 per cent in both Päijät-Häme and Kainuu. By contrast, the total number of overnight stays decreased strongly in Kymenlaakso, by 26.7 per cent. In Åland, overnight stays contracted by 9.6 per cent. In the whole country, the number of overnight stays increased in total by 2.6 per cent from October 2017.