Tourism to Finnish Lapland expected to peak during Christmas

Wednesday, November 23, 2022

Based on prior bookings, Christmas tourism to Finnish Lapland is expected to witness record visitor numbers this year.

The speed is now growing gradually, said the CEO of Visit Rovaniemi, Sanna Kärkkäinen. The number of visitors and reservations specify a surge from the record-setting year of 2019.

The peak season for international tourism in Lapland is during the winter, especially around Christmas. Tourism holds a great significance for the regional economy.

The Managing Director of Finland’s largest private hotel chain Lapland Hotels, Ari Vuorentausta said that December tourism is looking good at present.

Nonetheless, the surge in the cost level poses problems.

Still, the tourism industry in Finland’s Lapland is gathering speed again after a few years of undesirable happenings during the COVID pandemic.

As per statistics from Business Lapland, 3.1 million overnight stays were recorded in the region in 2019. In 2020, the number of overnight stays dropped to 2.1 million owing to the pandemic. After the spring of 2020, domestic tourism improved slightly, but the dearth of international customers kept the general expansion low.

European tourists are now supporting the decline in both Chinese and Russian tourism. Europeans now comprise the largest group, along with travelers from South Asia, the USA and Australia.

According to Business Lapland, in 2021, Chinese tourists were not among the six largest tourist groups. As much as 89 percent of global overnight stays were registered in terms of European travelers.

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