International tourism to Finland’s capital Helsinki rebounds after coronavirus pandemic as travel restrictions imposed in the wake of the Ukraine war cut off Russian tourists and discourage travel from Asia Monday’s investigation revealed that they did not.
Most Nordic capitals are seeing a rapid recovery in both international and domestic tourism after the pandemic decimated tourism.
But a new study commissioned by the Helsinki Tourism Foundation has found that Finland’s capital is lagging behind.
The study compared international and domestic travel to all Nordic capitals except Reykjavik, Iceland.
Mikko Raisti, president of the Helsinki Tourism Foundation, told AFP that travel restrictions introduced after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine “led to a huge change in the market when you look at travel in Russia and Asia.”
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Russian tourists, who once frequented Helsinki, have not been allowed to enter neighboring Finland since 2022 after the outbreak of war.
Finnair also suspended flights to Helsinki from Asian countries that pass through Russian airspace, resulting in fewer tourists from countries such as Japan and China visiting the Nordic country.
According to the study, the number of overseas overnight guests in Copenhagen and Oslo exceeded 2019 levels, while Helsinki remained at 78% of 2019 levels in 2023.
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In 2023, less than 2 million tourists stayed overnight in Helsinki.
Meanwhile, Denmark’s capital, Copenhagen, ranks as the region’s most popular tourist destination, with more than 6 million overseas overnight stays last year.
Leisti said Helsinki now needs to step up its “marketing efforts to reach its potential” to attract more tourists from countries such as “Sweden, Germany, the United States and the United Kingdom.” .
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According to the study, Stockholm allocated 4.9 million euros ($5.3 million) to market the city as a tourist destination, Oslo 7.5 million euros and Copenhagen a total of 36 million euros to promote tourism.
Helsinki, on the other hand, allocated just 2.2 million euros.
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