Finnish Lapland saw biggest 2024 tourism increase
Tourism revenue in Finland decreased last year compared to the previous year, according to a study by Visitory, a travel data consultancy.
Direct tourism revenue in the key areas of Finland it studied amounted to some €5.81 billion in 2024, a decline of 4.4 percent from the previous year.
The results are based on 47 municipalities and sub-districts. Of these, Helsinki raked in the largest tourism revenue, €1.4 billion.
Tampere, some 200km north of the capital, was a distant second, earning €504 million last year, down by 13 percent from the year before. Helsinki’s revenue also fell compared to 2023.
The biggest rise in direct tourism revenue was in Finnish Lapland. Revenues grew the most in the northern regional capital, Rovaniemi, which saw an increase of almost 15 percent.
Direct tourism revenue refers to the money spent by visitors in a specific region or municipality, minus VAT.
Visitors spend more
Spending by Finnish tourists decreased in most of the municipalities included in the study.
That explains why many municipalities’ tourism revenue decreased last year from 2023, even though there was a slight increase in overnight stays in some places, the company said.
Across the country, the number of registered overnight stays by Finnish tourists decreased by approximately five percent, while unregistered overnight stays increased by 19 percent.
Foreign tourists’ spending, on the other hand, increased from the previous year.
The number of overnight stays by foreign tourists in hotels increased by just over 10 percent. However, Airbnb flats and other lodgings saw growth of as much as one-third compared to 2023.
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This story is posted on the Barents Observer as part of Eye on the Arctic, a collaborative partnership between public and private circumpolar media organizations.
