Spending by foreign visitors in Finland rose by one fifth last year, according to a survey by Business Finland. It says the biggest spenders were the Chinese, who spent an average of more than 1,200 euros each in Finland. Altogether tourists spent over four billion euros in Finland last year, the survey indicates.
Last year foreign tourists made a record 8.3 million visits to Finland, an increase of 13 percent from 2016. Meanwhile they spent nearly half a billion euros more than a year earlier, an improvement of 22 percent.
Russian visits to Finland were up by 17 percent while those by Chinese visitors shot up by 63 percent. Trips from other EU countries nudged up by four percent.
The number of tourists staying overnight in Finland grew by 18 percent, while the number of day trips rose much more modestly at six percent. The vast majority of overnight stays were as part of business trips.
The largest total expenditures were by the largest group of visitors: Russians. However they only spent an average of 240 euros per visit, compared with the overall average of 318 euros – a figure that the average Chinese visitor exceeded nearly four-fold at 1,262 euros.
According to Visit Finland, tourism employs 5.5 percent of Finland’s workforce, or about 140,000 people – and they tend to be young people. It estimates that tourism contributes 2.5 percent of Finland’s GDP, making it bigger than the food sector and nearly as large as farming, forestry and fisheries.
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