Russians prefer Finland

More and more Russians spend their vacation in Finland. In 2010 the country welcomed 17% more tourists from Russia than in previous year. According to Finland’s Statistics Center’s data the number of foreign visitors in 2010 was added 10% compared to 2009. The growth amounts to around half a million people.

Mostly tourists come from Russia, Sweden and Estonia. While the number of Russians grew by 17%, the Swedes and Estonians decreased.

As per Euromag, the majority of visitors stated “tourism and leisure” as a purpose of their trip to Finland, 12% were visiting friends or relatives, 22% came for business and 9% were heading to a third country via Finland. Over a half of all foreigners stayed in hotels, a quarter crashed on friends and relatives. An average stay was 4.4 days. 41% of all trips to Finland lasted for just a day. Most of such trips were made by the Russians.

Average foreign tourist spent €330 per stay – €52 more compared to 2009. Daily expenses amounted to €61, which is €4 more than in 2009.