This winter is going to be a rather successful
season for those operators, who are working with Finland. Almost 100% of New Year
and Christmas tours are already sold out. According to some early estimates,
the holiday tourist flow will rise by about 30% this year. Russians see a
chance to visit Finland’s
many ski-resorts and also see Santa’s hometown in Lapland.
Recently the Ambassador Hannu Himanen said that
about 350-400 thousand Russians are planning to spend the New Year holidays in Finland. That
is 50-75 thousand more, compared to last year. By the end of 2012 the Finnish
embassy will issue about 1.2 million visas for Russian tourists, most of them will
get multi-entry visas. During the last winter season, from November 2011 to
April 2012, about 1.7 million Russians visited Finland, which was a 17% increase,
compared to the previous year. According to Finnish statistics, 78% of Russian
visitors are tourists.
Online search engines also rate Finland as one of the most popular New Year
holiday queries among Russians, alongside with Egypt. Of course most of the demand
for this destination comes from Saint
Petersburg.
Tour operators associate Finland’s
growing popularity with the reduction of New Year holidays in 2013. Olga
Ustimenkova, Head of the Finnish Department in Jazz Tour, says: “Many tourists
have decided against long trips this season, choosing something close by
instead. And Finland
is one of the obvious choices”. According to her, the demand for the
destination grew by 20-30% this year. Also, tourists are becoming interested in
the New Year celebrations themselves, whereas before they used to book tours
only after 1 January, preferring to celebrate at home. Mrs. Ustimenkova also
says that the prices have not really changed. A week-long vacation will cost
about €800 per person.
Head of the FIT & MICE Department at Solvex
Travel, IrinaVanhellemont, comments: “This year tours to Finland started
selling in the beginning of August, a month earlier than usual. And we have
sold 100% of our quota on all programs, including additional dates in the
beginning of January”. She predicts a 15-17% increase in sales on the
destination. Also, she noted that people are addressing tour operators now for
their transport needs – they book a flight or a train instead of taking their
own car. “I guess most of the people who have been to the North, just decided
against risking, and chose a more comfortable and safe means of travelling”, -
presumed the Solvex representative.
According to Alexander Glazov, Product-Manager
at Viking, this year Finland
managed to almost avoid dumping. Unlike last year, when just before the
holidays the destination was still not packed. “This year there were no massive
sales. If operators did introduce some discounts this season, they were mostly
due to last minute cancellations”, - explained Mr. Glazov. According to him,
the destination is already 95% sold out. Some Finnish consulates in Russian
regions are still working on issuing visas, before going on holidays, so there
are still some bookings coming. Viking representative also estimated the
increase of Finland
sales at about 30%.
