Kola-Lapland border-crossings up one-third
More than a quarter-million border-crossings were counted at Finland’s two northernmost border stations to Russia in 2011.
Salla and Raja-Jooseppi had both around 30 percent increase in border-crossings in 2011. The majority of travelers are Russian citizens coming from Murmansk and the Kola Peninsula.
In total, 256.814 border-crossings were counted at the two border stations by New Year’s Eve. That is up from 182.597 in 2010. It is also a doubling since 2006, according to the statistics posted by the Finnish Border Authorities.
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YLE Lappi reports that the increase of Russian travelers to northern Finland continues into 2012. This week, thousands of shoppers from the Murmansk region are crowding in the malls in Rovaniemi, the largest town in Lapland.
- The next few days are getting really busy, says Pekka Rinne, a shopping centre manger interviewed by YLE Lappi. He estimates that some 20.000 to 30.000 Russian shopping tourists are coming to Rovaniemi during the first one and a half week in January. That is an increase of some 20 to 30 percent compared with the first days of January last year. Russians have their Christmas and New Year’s vacation until January 10th.
Read more: Russians travel abroad like never before
In addition to shopping in Rovaniemi and Ivalo, Russian tourists are in majority at several of the ski-resorts in Finnish Lapland.
Finland’s consul in Murmansk, Martti Ruokokoski told BarentsObserver before Christmas that they estimated to issue around 50.000 visas by the year end.
Read also: Number of Finnish visas reaches record high
