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Published: 13 June 2012

Tourism from abroad to Finland increased in 2011

In 2011, Finland received 7.3 million foreign visitors. The number of foreign visitors increased by 17 per cent from the year 2010, or by one million visitors. Foreign visitors brought EUR 2.2 billion to Finland, which was approximately EUR 180 million more than in the previous year. These data derive from the Border Interview Survey by Statistics Finland and Finnish Tourist Board.

Table 1. Foreign passengers visiting Finland in 2007-2011

Country of residence	Year
	2007 (1000 pass.)	2008 (1000 pass.)	2009 (1000 pass.)	2010 (1000 pass.)	2011 (1000 pass.)	Change 2010-2011, per cent (%)
All visitors	5 736	6 072	5 695	6 182	7 260	17
Russia	2 070	2 331	2 192	2 561	3 261	27
Estonia	561	522	583	561	708	26
Sweden	768	765	753	712	681	-4
Germany	350	376	332	363	399	10
Great Britain	312	316	267	263	278	6
Norway	194	187	160	195	216	11
Japan	103	105	142	109	150	37
France	131	120	94	132	145	10
United States	120	114	104	89	121	35
Spain	83	116	123	110	120	8

Visitors from Russia comprised the largest visitor group. Forty-five per cent of the visitors, or approximately 3.3 million visitors in total, came from Russia. Compared with the previous year, travel from Russia to Finland increased by 27 per cent. The second largest group of visitors came from Estonia. The number of visitors from Estonia grew by 26 per cent from the previous year. During the year, a total of 708,000 Estonian visitors travelled to Finland and their share of the total number of passengers was 10 per cent. For the first time the number and share of Estonian visitors exceeded the number and share of Swedish visitors.

In 2011, 53 per cent of the foreign visitors were on a leisure trip in Finland. The number of laisure trips increased by 21 per cent from the previous year. Twelve per cent came to see friends or relatives. Their number increased by 16 per cent from the previous year. Twenty-one per cent of the visitors came to Finland on business. The number of business trips increased 11 per cent from the previous year, but in all the share of business travellers in the total number of travellers has decreased in the past six years. Nine per cent of the visitors were on a transit trip through Finland.

In 2011, nearly half of the foreign travellers stayed at hotels or motels in Finland. The number of hotel nights increased 16 per cent from the previous year. In 2011, foreign travellers stayed an average of 4.1 nights in Finland. Forty-two per cent of the trips to Finland did not include an overnight stay. Visitors from Russia made the highest number of same-day visits to Finland; over two-thirds of them did not stay overnight. Yet in total, visitors from Estonia and Russia spent the highest numbers of nights in Finland.

The average amount of money foreign visitors spent while in Finland was EUR 306 in 2011. The total expenditure of visitors per trip was seven per cent less than in the year before. The largest sums of money per visit were spent by visitors from China, EUR 670 on average. The average expenditure of foreign travellers was EUR 60 per day. This was two euroa less than in the previous year. The highest amount of money per day was spent by visitors living in Russia. The average expenditure of visitors from Russia was EUR 111 per day.

The number of foreign workers at places of work in Finland increased a little in 2011

In the Border Interview Survey, foreign passengers are asked whether they have a place of work in Finland. The question is presented if the target person lives permanently outside Finland and his or her main reason for visiting Finland is business. Foreign passengers who have lived or will live in Finland for more than 12 months are not interviewed in the survey. Moreover, visitors who have a place of work in Finland are asked how many times they have been to Finland during the last 12 months, how many nights they have spent in Finland, what type of accommodation they have used and how much money they have spent during this visit.

Table 2. Foreign passengers travelling to a place of work in Finland in 2007–2011 and their number of trips to Finland in 2011

Country of residence	Year
	2007 (1000 persons)	2008 (1000 persons)	2009 (1000 persons)	2010 (1000 persons)	2011 (1000 persons)	2011 (1000 visits)
All passengers	43,6	35,9	43,6	39,2	41,1	207,2
Estonia	20,6	17,9	20,8	12,8	20,9	141,1
Russia	9,3	6,8	7,5	8,5	3,1	14,4
Sweden	1,1	0,7	1,8	2,8	0,8	8,3
Germany	1,5	0,5	1,2	4,0	1,8	6,8
Poland	6,7	0,9	2,7	2,6	2,4	5,7
Other countries	4,4	9,0	9,7	8,5	12,0	30,8

In 2011, there were approximately 41,000 persons working in Finland, whose permanent country of residence was other than Finland. This was around 2,000 persons more than in the previous year. In 2011, about 21,000 persons with a place of work in Finland had their permanent residence in Estonia, 3,100 employees in Russia and 2,400 in Poland. Foreign passengers travelled to Finland because of their place of work in Finland 207,000 times in total. About two thirds, 141,000 trips, were from Estonia. The second highest number, 14,000, were from Russia.

Source: Border Interview Survey 2011, Statistics Finland

Inquiries: Jyrki Krzywacki 09 1734 2701, rajahaastattelut@stat.fi

Director in charge: Riitta Harala

Publication in pdf-format (240.4 kB)

Tables

Appendix tables

• Appendix table 1. Main reasons for foreign passengers to visit Finland in 2011 (13.6.2012)
• Appendix table 2. Length of stay by foreign passengers in Finland in 2011 (13.6.2012)
• Appendix table 3. Foreign passengers' length of stay in Finland, by country of residence, in 2011 (13.6.2012)
• Appendix table 4. Types of accommodation used by foreign passengers in Finland in 2011 (13.6.2012)
• Appendix table 5. Expenditure by foreign passengers in Finland in 2011 (13.6.2012)
• Appendix table 6. Expenditure by foreign passengers in Finland in 2011, by country of residence (13.6.2012)

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Updated 13.6.2012