Home > Statistics > Accommodation statistics > 2014 > December > Nights spent by foreign tourists in Finland decreased by 9.6 per cent in December 2014

Published: 19 February 2015

Nights spent by foreign tourists in Finland decreased by 9.6 per cent in December 2014

The number of recorded nights spent by foreign tourists at Finnish accommodation establishments in December 2014 was 500,000, which was 9.6 per cent fewer than in December 2013. Overnight stays by resident tourists increased by 0.8 per cent and accommodation establishments recorded 800,000 of them. In December 2014, the total number of nights spent in hotels was 1.3 million, which was 3.5 per cent fewer than twelve months earlier. These figures are preliminary data from Statistics Finland’s statistics on accommodation establishments and they have been collected from accommodation establishments with at least 20 beds or caravan pitches with electricity connection, and youth hostels.

Change in overnight stays in December 2014/2013, %

Overnight stays by Russian tourists plummeted in December 2014, which partially affected the decline in the total number of overnight stays by foreign visitors of nearly ten per cent. Altogether, 75,500 overnight stays were recorded for Russian visitors at Finnish accommodation establishments, which was as much as 52.1 per cent lower than in December 2013. British visitors surpassed Russians as the largest group of foreign tourists in December. In all, 136,000 overnight stays at accommodation establishments were recorded for Brits, which was 5.5 per cent more than one year before. German tourists came third with nearly 29,000 overnight stays, which was 5.0 per cent more than in December 2013. Swedish and French visitors came next with 25,000 to 27,000 overnight stays. The number of nights spent by Swedish tourists was 12.3 per cent up and nights spent by French tourists was 15.7 per cent up on December 2013.

Accommodation establishments recorded 16,000 to 17,000 overnight stays for Estonian and Japanese visitors. Overnight stays by Estonian visitors remained on level with the previous year while those by Japanese visitors declined by 7.4 per cent compared with December 2013. Tourism from the Mediterranean countries increased strongly in December. Overnight stays recorded for Italian visitors increased most, by 26.1 per cent and totalled 13,500. Overnight stays by Spanish tourists also increased heavily, by 17.5 per cent and totalled close on 14,000. Around 10,000 overnight stays were recorded for visitors from the Netherlands and the United States. Overnight stays by tourists from the United States increased by 6.0 per cent while those by Dutch tourists decreased by 9.8 per cent.

By region, the total number of overnight stays increased in December most in Åland, up by 12.4 per cent. The number of overnight stays grew by 9.4 per cent in Ostrobothnia and by 4.3 per cent in Kanta-Häme. In Kainuu and Lapland, overnight stays increased by one per cent in each. In all other regions, the numbers of overnight stays went down. The biggest drop in overnight stays was recorded in South Karelia, 34.3 per cent. In Kymenlaakso, the decrease amounted 15.5 per cent. Drops of over ten per cent were also measured in Päijät-Häme, North Karelia and Satakunta. Overnight stays in the whole country declined by 3.5 per cent from last year.

Change in overnight stays in December by region 2014 / 2013, %

Nights spent in hotels decreased by 2.8 per cent in December 2014

In December 2014, the total number of nights spent in hotels was 1.1 million, which was 2.8 per cent lower than twelve months earlier. Overnight stays by foreign tourists decreased by 8.4 per cent and accommodation establishments recorded 438,000 of them. By contrast, the number of recorded nights spent by resident tourists in hotels totalled close on 672,000, which was 1.3 per cent more than in December 2013.

The occupancy rate of hotel rooms in the whole country was 42.7 per cent in December. One year earlier, it was 43.5 per cent. Examined by region, the highest hotel room occupancy rates were recorded in Lapland, 60.4 per cent, and Uusimaa, 49.5 per cent. In Rovaniemi, the hotel room occupancy rate rose to 82.4 per cent, and the occupancy rate exceeded 60 per cent in Inari, Kittilä and Muonio. The hotel room occupancy rate in Helsinki was 53.4 per cent.

In December, the realised average price of a hotel room was EUR 93.22 per day for the whole country. Twelve months previously, it was EUR 94.63.

Hotel room occupancy rate and the monthly average price

Total number of nights spent at all accommodation establishments fell by 2.3 per cent in January to December

Between January and December 2014, the number of nights spent at accommodation establishments in Finland totalled close on 19.8 million. The number was 2.3 per cent lower than one year previously. The number of nights spent by resident tourists decreased by 2.1 per cent and that of nights spent by foreign tourists by 2.8 per cent. Nearly 14.1 million overnight stays were recorded for resident tourists and 5.7 million overnight stays were recorded for non-resident tourists.

Overnight stays by Russian visitors decreased throughout the year, plummeting to a decline of more than 50 per cent in December, which had an effect on the full year change in the number of overnight stays. Between January and December 2014, the number of nights spent by Russian visitors at accommodation establishments in Finland totalled good 1.3 million, which was, however, 17.3 per cent down on the respective time period of last year. Russians were still, by far, the largest group of foreign visitors in January to December, while Swedish visitors came next with 534,000 overnight stays. Overnight stays by Swedish visitors remained almost unchanged year-on-year and only increased by 0.5 per cent. German visitors made up the third largest group with 498,000 overnight stays. The number of nights recorded for them at Finnish accommodation establishments was 0.6 per cent fewer than one year earlier.

Overnight stays by British tourists decreased by 1.8 per cent from the corresponding period last year and amounted to 446,000. Among the most important countries of inbound tourism into Finland, overnight stays of visitors from the United States increased most, or by 8.6 per cent, and 203,000 overnight stays were recorded for them in January to December. Overnight stays by French tourists also amounted to good 200,000 even though the number of overnight stays remained on level with the previous year only growing by 0.4 per cent. Overnight stays by visitors from Estonia, Italy and Spain increased by around six to seven per cent year-on-year. By contrast, overnight stays of Japanese visitors decreased by seven per cent from the respective time period of last year.

Change in overnight stays in January-December 2014/2013, %

Source: Accommodation Statistics. Statistics Finland

Inquiries: Marjut Tuominen 029 551 3556, Ossi Nurmi 029 551 2984, liikenne.matkailu@stat.fi

Director in charge: Hannele Orjala

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Appendix tables

• Appendix table 1.1. Capacity and its utilization, December 2014 (19.2.2015)
• Appendix table 1.2. Capacity and its utilization, January-December 2014 (19.2.2015)
• Appendix table 2.1. Nights spend in all establishments, December 2014 (19.2.2015)
• Appendix table 2.2. Nights spend in all establishments, January-December 2014 (19.2.2015)
• Appendix table 3.1. Hotel capacity and capacity utilization, December 2014 (19.2.2015)
• Appendix table 3.2. Hotel capacity and capacity utilization, January-December 2014 (19.2.2015)
• Appendix table 4.1. Nights spend in hotels, December 2014 (19.2.2015)
• Appendix table 4.2. Nights spend in hotels, January-December 2014 (19.2.2015)
• Appendix table 5.1. Visitor arrivals and nights spend by country of residence, December 2014 (19.2.2015)
• Appendix table 5.2. Visitor arrivals and nights spend by country of residence, January-December 2014 (19.2.2015)
• Appendix table 6. Nights spend in all establishments, 2014 (19.2.2015)

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Updated 19.2.2015