FINLAND: Major Investments Highlight Confidence In Finland’s Tourism Sector

The Finnish Hospitality Association predicts investments worth EUR 1 billion over the next five years.

Finnish companies are investing at least EUR 550 million in the tourism sector in 2015 and 2016, according to statistics compiled by Helsingin Sanomat and The Finnish Hospitality Association. The association’s CEO Timo Lappi believes that the investment boom may reach a total of one billion euros over the next five years – a level of confidence he has not witnessed for more than a decade.

This shows a strong belief in the long-term growth prospects of the tourism sector despite the impact of Russia’s economic crisis and other issues currently facing the Finnish economy. In particular, leisure time travel is expected to increase significantly in Finland as more people with spending power are now reaching retirement age.

Major investments in hotels
The biggest investments are being made in hotels that serve customers around the year. Major investments include the EUR 120 million Clarion Hotel in Helsinki which is currently under construction by the Nordic Choice Hotels chain.
Many of the investments are directed to the Helsinki metropolitan area and designed to meet the needs of more discerning customers, according to Lappi. In his view, Helsinki’s strength as a travel destination is its compact size, making it very convenient for visitors to access restaurants, nature and tourism services.

According to Risto Kyhälä, CEO of Regatta Resorts which is building a spa and wellness centre and holiday homes in Hanko, the future of the sector looks very bright. “Wellness travel is undergoing strong growth. The supply is also creating more demand as the related services expand,” he says in an interview with Helsingin Sanomat.

More visitors from Asia
Finland’s good air connections to Asia are also expected to boost tourism in the future. This is already visible in the growing number of visitors from China to Finland during the first half of 2015 compared to the year before. According to Statistics Finland, the number of overnight stays by Chinese visitors increased by 37.9 per cent to more than 70,000 during the first six months of the year.

According to Aki Käyhkö, managing director at Scandic Hotels, the positive development is the result of marketing Finland as a travel destination in China, and the location of Helsinki-Vantaa Airport which encourages more tourism from Asia to Finland. The airport offers the fastest connections from northern Europe to many cities in Asia.