Home > Statistics > Accommodation statistics > 2015 > May > Nights spent by foreign tourists in Finland decreased by 4.1 per cent in May

Published: 16 July 2015

Nights spent by foreign tourists in Finland decreased by 4.1 per cent in May

The number of recorded nights spent by foreign tourists at Finnish accommodation establishments in May 2015 was 383,000, which was 4.1 per cent lower than in May 2014. By contrast, overnight stays by resident tourists increased by 1.1 per cent and totalled good 961,000. The total number of overnight stays at accommodation establishments was around 1.3 million, which was almost the same number as in the year before. 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.

Change in overnight stays in May 2015/2014, %

The steep decline in overnight stays by Russian visitors tapered off slightly in May 2015. Altogether, 60,000 overnight stays were recorded for them at Finnish accommodation establishments, which was 32.4 per cent lower than in May 2014. Visitors from Russia and Sweden were the largest groups of foreign tourists in May. Nearly 48,000 nights spent were recorded for Swedish visitors, which was 8.2 per cent more than twelve months earlier. German tourists came third with close on 37,000 overnight stays, which was as much as 22.3 per cent more than in May 2014. British visitors came next with around 23,000 overnight stays. The number was 0.9 per cent lower than last year.

A total of 18,000 overnight stays were recorded for visitors from the United States, and the drop from May 2014 amounted to 6.4 per cent. Around 14,000 overnight stays each were recorded for Chinese and Estonian visitors. Overnight stays by Estonian visitors decreased by 12.4 per cent compared with May 2014, while among the most important countries of inbound tourism to Finland, the biggest increase was recorded for Chinese tourists, 59.3 per cent.

By region, the total number of overnight stays increased most in the regions of Åland, up by 12.2 per cent, and North Ostrobothnia, up by 9.7 per cent. Overnight stays increased by 7.2 per cent in Pirkanmaa and by 5.7 per cent in Kymenlaakso. The biggest drop in overnight stays was recorded in Central Ostrobothnia 41.8 per cent. The number of overnight stays declined by 11.5 per cent in Ostrobothnia and by 10.5 per cent in Kanta-Häme. Overnight stays in the whole country remained on level with May 2014.

Change in overnight stays in May by region 2015 / 2014, %

Nearly the same number of overnight stays were recorded at hotels as one year before

The total number of nights spent in hotels was good 1.1 million in May 2015, which was almost the same as one year before. Overnight stays by resident tourists increased by 1.7 per cent and accommodation establishments recorded 810,500 of them. By contrast, overnight stays by foreign tourists decreased by 4.5 per cent year-on-year and hotels recorded a total of 325,000 of them in May 2015.

The occupancy rate of hotel rooms in the whole country was 50.2 per cent in May. One year earlier, it was 49.9 per cent. Among the regions, the highest occupancy rates of hotel rooms were measured in Uusimaa, 66.5 per cent, and Varsinais-Suomi, 56.6 per cent. In Vantaa, the hotel room occupancy rate rose to 74.7 per cent and in Turku to 60.9 per cent. The hotel room occupancy rate in Helsinki was 70.4 per cent.

In May, the realised average price of a hotel room was EUR 89.95 per day for the whole country. Twelve months previously, it was EUR 92.67.

Hotel room occupancy rate and the monthly average price

Total number of nights spent at all accommodation establishments fell by 2 per cent in January to May

Between January and May 2015, the number of nights spent at accommodation establishments in Finland totalled around seven million. This was 2.0 per cent lower than in the corresponding period one year earlier. The number of nights spent by resident tourists increased by 1.4 per cent while that of nights spent by foreign tourists decreased by 9.8 per cent. Five million overnight stays were recorded for resident tourists and close on two million overnight stays were recorded for non-resident tourists.

Between January and May 2015, the number of nights spent by Russian visitors at accommodation establishments in Finland totalled 359,000, which was 44.0 per cent down on the respective time period of last year. They were still by far the largest group of foreign visitors in January to May, as German visitors came next with good 184,000 overnight stays. Altogether, 163,000 overnight stays were recorded for both British and Swedish visitors in January to May. The overnight stays of visitors from Sweden increased by 5.9 per cent and those of visitors from Great Britain by one per cent from the previous year's corresponding time period.

Both Estonian and Dutch visitors accumulated good 73,000 overnight stays in January to May. Overnight stays by Estonian tourists remained at last year's level, while those by Dutch tourists declined by 4.2 per cent year-on-year. Among tourists from Mediterranean countries, overnight stays of Italian and French visitors increased by seven to eight per cent, whereas those of Spanish visitors decreased by 2.1 per cent from the corresponding period last year. A total of nearly 115,000 overnights in Finnish accommodation establishments were recorded for French tourists. Correspondingly, overnights by Spanish and Italian visitors remained at 30,000 to 40,000.

Among the most important countries of inbound tourism to Finland, overnight stays by visitors from China increased most in January to May, by 41.0 per cent. The number of nights spent by them rose to 45,000.

Change in overnight stays in January-May 2015/2014, %

Source: Accommodation Statistics. Statistics Finland

Inquiries: Marjut Tuominen 029 551 3556, Kari Keränen 029 551 3208, liikenne.matkailu@stat.fi

Director in charge: Hannele Orjala

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Appendix tables

• Appendix table 1.1. Capacity and its utilization, May 2015 (16.7.2015)
• Appendix table 1.2. Capacity and its utilization, January-May 2015 (16.7.2015)
• Appendix table 2.1. Nights spend in all establishments, May 2015 (16.7.2015)
• Appendix table 2.2. Nights spend in all establishments, January-May 2015 (16.7.2015)
• Appendix table 3.1. Hotel capacity and capacity utilization, May 2015 (16.7.2015)
• Appendix table 3.2. Hotel capacity and capacity utilization, January-May 2015 (16.7.2015)
• Appendix table 4.1. Nights spend in hotels, May 2015 (16.7.2015)
• Appendix table 4.2. Nights spend in hotels, January-May 2015 (16.7.2015)
• Appendix table 5.1. Visitor arrivals and nights spend by country of residence, May 2015 (16.7.2015)
• Appendix table 5.2. Visitor arrivals and nights spend by country of residence, January-May 2015 (16.7.2015)
• Appendix table 6. Nights spend in all establishments, 2015 (16.7.2015)

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Updated 16.7.2015