Home > Statistics > Accommodation statistics > 2017 > March > Overnight stays by foreign tourists grew strongly by 21.4 per cent in March 2017

Published: 18 May 2017

Overnight stays by foreign tourists grew strongly by 21.4 per cent in March 2017

Nights spent by foreign tourists at Finnish accommodation establishments still increased strongly, by 21.4 per cent from last year and nearly 515,000 nights were recorded for them in March 2017. However, the number of nights spent by resident tourists went down by 1.9 per cent and totalled good 1.2 million overnight stays. A total of nearly 1.8 million overnight stays were recorded at Finnish accommodation establishments in March 2017, which was 3.9 per cent more than in March 2016. 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 March 2017/2016, %

Overnight stays by Russian and Chinese tourists increased also in March

Nearly 53,500 million overnight stays were recorded for Russian visitors at Finnish accommodation establishments, which was 35.2 per cent more than in March 2016. Russians were the biggest group of visitors in March. Most overnight stays by Russians were recorded in Uusimaa, nearly 15,000 nights, and in South Karelia, 12,200 nights. Overnight stays recorded for Chinese visitors increased by 67.1 per cent, and good 16,700 nights were recorded for them at accommodation establishments in March 2017. Chinese visitors stayed overnight mainly in Uusimaa, nearly 7,700 nights, and in Lapland with 6,900 nights spent. The share of Uusimaa in all overnight stays by foreign visitors was nearly 37 per cent and that of Lapland around 34 per cent.

International winter sports events had an impact on the growth in overnight stays of foreign visitors in March

The effect of international winter sports events is visible in overnight stays by foreign visitors in March. Overnight stays recorded for Germans increased by 10.4 per cent year-on-year and totalled nearly 50,500 at accommodation establishments. For the whole country, Germans were the second largest group of foreign tourists in March 2017 Swedes took the third place with good 38,000 nights spent, which was one-quarter more than in 2016. French and British visitors came next. Good 35,700 overnight stays were recorded for French visitors at accommodation establishments, which was 16.3 per cent more than one year before. Overnight stays recorded for British visitors grew by 7.2 per cent from the year before and numbered nearly 34,000.

Overnight visits by tourists from almost all the most important countries of inbound tourism into Finland increased in March. In addition to those mentioned above, overnight stays by Japanese tourists increased by 43 per cent, those by Norwegians by 35 per cent and those by tourists from the United States by good 31 per cent compared to 2016. Of the most important countries of tourism, overnight stays by only Spanish visitors diminished. For them, the decline was around 15 per cent.

Examined by region, overnight stays increased in March most in relative terms in South Karelia, up by 26.5 per cent. Overnight stays increased by 18.2 per cent in Kymenlaakso and by 16 per cent in Central Ostrobothnia. Uusimaa reached a growth of 13.3 per cent and North Karelia 11.2 per cent. The growth in Lapland was three per cent. By contrast, the total number of overnight stays decreased most in South Ostrobothnia, by 10.9 per cent, and in Kainuu, by 10 per cent. In other regions, the change percentage of overnight stays was under 10 per cent. In the whole country, overnight stays increased by 3.9 per cent from March 2016.

Change in overnight stays in March by region 2017/2016, %

Overnight stays at hotels increased by 5 per cent

In March 2017, the total number of nights spent in hotels was nearly 1.5 million, which was five per cent higher than twelve months earlier. Overnight stays by foreign tourists increased by 20.4 per cent and hotels recorded a total of nearly 460,000 of them. Recorded nights spent by resident tourists in hotels numbered good one million. The number was 0.7 per cent lower than in March 2016.

The occupancy rate of hotel rooms was 57 per cent in March. One year earlier, it was 53.6 per cent. Examined by region, the highest hotel room occupancy rates were recorded in Lapland, 69.4 per cent, and Uusimaa, 64.2 per cent. In Kittilä, the hotel room occupancy rate rose to 85.3 per cent and in Kolari to 81.3 per cent. In Vantaa, the measured occupancy rate of hotel rooms was 71.9 per cent. The hotel room occupancy rate in Helsinki was 68.3 per cent.

In March 2017, the realised average price of a hotel room was EUR 102.64 per day for the whole country. Twelve months previously, it was EUR 98.78.

Hotel room occupancy rate and the monthly average price

Total number of nights spent at all accommodation establishments grew by 6.8 per cent in early 2017

Between January and March 2017, the number of nights spent at accommodation establishments in Finland totalled nearly 4.8 million. This was 6.8 per cent higher than in the corresponding period one year earlier. Slightly over 3.1 million overnight stays were recorded for resident tourists and nearly 1.7 million overnight stays for non-resident tourists. The overnight stays of resident visitors increased by 1.1 per cent and those of non-resident visitors by 19.4 per cent from the previous year's first quarter.

The number of nights spent by Russian visitors at accommodation establishments in Finland totalled good 263,000 in January to March 2017, which was 17.8 per cent up on the respective period of last year. They were the biggest country of inbound tourism to Finland in 2017. British visitors came next with good 156,000 overnight stays. Overnight stays by British tourists went up by 23.8 per cent. Germans were in the third position with around 144,000 overnight stays. The number was 13.2 per cent higher than in January to March 2016. Accommodation establishments also recorded plenty of overnight stays by French and Dutch visitors. Slightly over 124,000 overnight stays were recorded for French visitors and almost 95,500 for Dutch tourists. The overnight stays of visitors from France increased by 13.2 per cent and those of visitors from the Netherlands by as much as 39.8 per cent from the previous year's corresponding period.

Among the most important countries of inbound tourism to Finland, overnight stays by Chinese visitors increased most in early 2017. Nights spent by Chinese visitors rose to around 70,000, which was as much as 97.8 per cent more than in January to March 2016. However, Chinese visitors did not yet attain the figures of Swedes. Nearly 90,000 overnight stays were recorded for Swedish visitors in early 2017. Overnight stays by Swedes grew by good 10 per cent.

Change in overnight stays in January-March 2017/2016, %

Source: Accommodation Statistics. Statistics Finland

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

Director in charge: Mari Ylä-Jarkko

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Appendix tables

• Appendix table 1.1. Capacity and its utilization, March 2017 (18.5.2017)
• Appendix table 1.2. Capacity and its utilization, January-March 2017 (18.5.2017)
• Appendix table 2.1. Nights spent in all establishments, March 2017 (18.5.2017)
• Appendix table 2.2. Nights spent in all establishments, January-March 2017 (18.5.2017)
• Appendix table 3.1. Hotel capacity and capacity utilization, March 2017 (18.5.2017)
• Appendix table 3.2. Hotel capacity and capacity utilization, January-March 2017 (18.5.2017)
• Appendix table 4.1. Nights spent in hotels, March 2017 (18.5.2017)
• Appendix table 4.2. Nights spent in hotels, January-March 2017 (18.5.2017)
• Appendix table 5.1. Visitor arrivals and nights spent by country of residence, March 2017 (18.5.2017)
• Appendix table 5.2. Visitor arrivals and nights spent by country of residence, January-March 2017 (18.5.2017)
• Appendix table 6. Nights spent in all establishments, 2017 (18.5.2017)

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Updated 18.5.2017