HELSINKI TOURISM IN 2008

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2 Record year 2008 in brief 3.1 million bednights at accommodation establishments domestic visitors 41% of nights foreign visitors 59% of nights top markets Russia, Germany, Britain, Sweden, the United States and Japan next in order Italy, France, Spain, Denmark, Netherlands, Estonia and Norway business travel 51%, leisure travel 45%, 4% other travel average length of stay 1.75 nights: foreigners 2.03 nights, Finns 1.47 nights room occupancy rate 68.8% 52 hotels with 8,085 rooms and 15,065 beds total of 15,640 beds in all accommodation establishments 13.4 million passengers at Helsinki-Vantaa Airport 8.9 million ship passengers at Helsinki s harbours 360,000 international cruise passengers, 270 cruise visits 26,600 congress visitors at 163 international congresses 15.3 million domestic day visitors Helsinki City Tourist & Convention Bureau Pohjoisesplanadi 19, P.O. Box 28 FIN City of Helsinki tel (0) , fax +358 (0) tourist.info@hel.fi, Sources Statistics Finland / Finnish Maritime Administration / Finavia / Finland Convention Bureau / Compiled by Art-Travel Oy Heikki Artman 2

3 Over three million bednights Domestic and Russian visitors raised the number of nights spent in Helsinki to a record level in The magic three million mark was broken, with accommodation establishments recording a total of 3,082,200 nights. Growth amounted to 3.3% compared with the year before. New alltime highs were reached among both foreign and domestic visitors: foreigners nights exceeded 1.8 million and domestic nights totalled nearly 1.3 million. After strong growth in the first half of 2008, the economic downturn began to have an effect in the summer and growth in tourism slowed and even turned negative in some respects. Helsinki s share of nights in Finland was 15.8% or about the same as the year before. The Helsinki metropolitan area had a share of 20.7% and the entire Uusimaa region 23.5%. Continued growth in domestic nights Domestic nights continued to show strong growth, rising by 7%. Domestic visitors accounted for 41% of nights in Helsinki. Nights were spread out fairly evenly over the year. July remained the most popular month. Helsinki s share of domestic nights in Finland was 9.1%. The last time it was this high was in Monthly bednights in Helsinki January February March April May June July August September October November December 3

4 Clear rise in visitors from Russia Foreigners accounted for 59% of nights in Helsinki. Visitors from Russia clearly headed the list, with the number of nights increasing by 28% compared with the year before. Other big markets were Germany, Britain, Sweden, the United States and Japan in that order. Next on the list came Italy, France, Spain, Denmark, the Netherlands, Estonia and Norway. Foreigners nights rose by 0.9% or 15,500 nights. The biggest growth was on the Russian market. A slight decline was recorded on the other main markets. Without the increase in visitors from Russia, foreigners nights would have fallen by 2.4%. The most important new market was India, with nights totalling nearly 36,000 - the same as for Switzerland. Among smaller markets significant increases were recorded for visitors from Australia, Canada, Ireland and South Korea, for instance. The largest number of foreigners nights was registered in August. Highest market share among long-haul countries Helsinki s share of foreigners nights in Finland was 33%. Shares were highest for long-haul markets. Helsinki accounted for over half of nights in Finland for visitors from the United States (60%) and Japan (56%), for instance. The figure was also clearly over half for visitors from India, Australia and South Korea. Helsinki s share was lowest among visitors from Sweden, Estonia and Latvia. Rise in length of stay Excluding day travellers, visitors spent an average of 1.75 nights in Helsinki, which was higher than the year before (1.73 nights). The average length of stay was 2.03 nights for foreigners and 1.47 nights for domestic visitors. Both these figures were up. Visitors from North America and India generally stayed longer, while Swedish, Russian and Japanese visitors averaged just nights in Helsinki. Monthly bednights in Helsinki Change-% Total Domestic Foreign countries Total Domestic nights Foreign nights Total Domestic Foreign countries January ,0 % 13,6 % 10,9 % February ,4 % 20,5 % 18,4 % March ,4 % -4,6 % 4,1 % April ,4 % 34,2 % 16,1 % May ,3 % 13,7 % -4,0 % June ,0 % 7,3 % -6,9 % July ,2 % 9,3 % -2,5 % August ,1 % -0,1 % -3,1 % September ,6 % 1,9 % 1,4 % October ,3 % 3,9 % 1,0 % November ,8 % -3,6 % -6,1 % December ,9 % -1,1 % -0,7 % Total ,3 % 7,0 % 0,9% 4

5 Foreign bednights in Helsinki by top countries Russia Germany Great Britain Sweden USA Largest increase in leisure travel Business travel accounted for 51% of nights in Helsinki, leisure travel 45% and other travel 4%. Business travel showed a somewhat larger increase than leisure travel. Among domestic visitors both leisure nights and business nights reached new all-time highs in Among foreign visitors leisure nights were also higher than ever before. Growth in foreigners nights focused on leisure travel, while on the domestic market business nights rose clearly more than leisure nights. Helsinki s accommodation capacity increased by over 600 beds Registered accommodation capacity in Helsinki totalled 15,640 beds in This was 620 more than the year before. In the Helsinki metropolitan area capacity totalled 21,111 beds and in the Uusimaa region 25,192 beds. Slight drop in occupancy rate and average price The room occupancy rate at accommodation establishments in Helsinki was 68.8% or slightly lower than the previous two years. The occupancy rate was highest in August (80.9%). The occupancy rate in Finland as a whole was clearly lower, 50.4%. In 2007 the occupancy rate was 70.4% and in 2006 the figure was 69.0%. The average price of overnight accommodation in Helsinki was 71.93, which was lower than the previous three years. The highest average price was in September ( 84.80). The average price of a hotel room rose by nearly one euro to last year. In Finland the average price of overnight accommodation was and the average price of a hotel room was Accommodation sales in Helsinki continued to rise in 2008, totalling million. The increase compared with the year before was more than 6 million. Helsinki s 52 hotels had an average of 8,085 rooms and 15,065 beds in Helsinki accounted for 11.7% of registered accommodation capacity in Finland. 5

6 Bednights in Helsinki by country of residence Whole I-XII/2007 I-XII/2008 Change country Whole country Change 07>08 change I-XII/ >07 I-XII/2007 % 07>08 % % I-XII/2008 Market share of Helsinki Total ,3 % 2,2 % ,2 % ,8 % Foreign countries ,9 % 3,2 % ,3 % ,0 % Finland ,0 % 2,0 % ,9 % ,1 % Russia ,6 % 20,3 % ,1 % ,5 % Germany ,0 % 1,3 % ,8 % ,9 % Great Britain ,6 % 4,9 % ,4 % ,5 % Sweden ,9 % -0,7 % ,1 % ,8 % USA ,6 % -5,5 % ,3 % ,9 % Japan ,7 % -1,3 % ,3 % ,9 % Italy ,5 % 1,8 % ,8 % ,1 % France ,4 % -3,7 % ,0 % ,9 % Spain ,8 % -8,6 % ,0 % ,3 % Denmark ,9 % 5,7 % ,8 % ,6 % Netherland ,1 % -4,7 % ,5 % ,8 % Estonia ,8 % -3,1 % ,4 % ,2 % Norway ,1 % -9,4 % ,5 % ,0 % China ,8 % -6,4 % ,4 % ,6 % India ,4 % 28,9 % ,8 % ,1 % Switzerland ,7 % -6,3 % ,3 % ,9 % Australia ,9 % 17,2 % ,5 % ,2 % Poland ,9 % -0,9 % ,4 % ,9 % Belgium ,8 % -5,0 % ,6 % ,8 % Austria ,1 % 3,4 % ,6 % ,7 % Canada ,4 % 2,5 % ,2 % ,3 % Greek ,1 % -10,3 % ,3 % ,9 % South-Korea ,7 % 1,5 % ,0 % ,1 % Irland ,9 % -5,8 % ,0 % ,7 % Hungary ,1 % -12,5 % ,4 % ,1 % Latvia ,1 % 7,4 % ,8 % ,1 % Czech ,0 % 5,3 % ,3 % ,0 % Portugal ,6 % 9,1 % ,1 % ,9 % Turkey ,2 % 12,4 % ,9 % ,7 % Lithuania ,7 % 12,8 % ,8 % ,5 % Island ,5 % -13,4 % ,1 % ,3 % Israel ,7 % 2,7 % ,9 % ,0 % Taiwan ,8 % -11,8 % ,1 % ,0 % Ukraina ,1 % 23,4 % ,5 % ,3 % New-Zealand ,3 % 11,1 % ,3 % Other countries ,9 % 5,1 % ,1 % ,8 % 6

7 Bednights by purpose of visit Leisure Share % Business Share % Other purpose Share % ,4 % ,8 % ,7 % ,6 % ,7 % ,7 % ,5 % ,4 % ,1 % ,7 % ,9 % ,3 % ,6 % ,1 % ,3 % ,8 % ,3 % ,9 % ,8 % ,8 % ,4 % ,1 % ,7 % ,3 % Price per night, room occupancy rate and the value of accommodation turnover Price per night/ Per person Price per hotelroom Room occupancy rate % Accommodation turnover ,64 97,55 66, ,68 97,50 65, ,52 100,42 63, ,27 97,75 65, ,22 102,82 66, ,50 104,39 69, ,22 107,01 70, ,93 107,92 68, Accommodation capacity in Helsinki Number of units Number of rooms Number of beds Hotels Total Hotels Total Hotels Total

8 Growth in international air travel came to a halt in November The number of passengers at Helsinki-Vantaa Airport set a new record of 13.4 million, up 1.9% compared with the year before. Passengers rose by 4.1% in international traffic but fell by 6.1% in domestic traffic. International traffic rose clearly throughout the first part of the year. Traffic remained on the previous year s level in November and then turned down in December. Traffic was busiest in June and slowest in December. International traffic accounted for 80% of total traffic, which was 2 percentage points higher than the year before. The number of domestic passengers was down every month except February and April. The largest number of passengers was recorded in March and the lowest in July. Estonian ship traffic clearly up The number of passengers at the Port of Helsinki totalled 8.9 million in 2008, up 4.6% compared with the year before. Growth was mainly due to Estonian traffic. German traffic also rose, while Swedish traffic declined. Tallinn traffic accounted for 68% of the total, Stockholm traffic 26% and German traffic 3%. Passengers on services between Helsinki and Tallinn totalled 6.28 million, which was 8.4% more than in Passengers on services to and from Sweden totalled 2.35 million, down 4.3%. Passengers between Helsinki and Germany totalled 264,000, up 6.5%. Helsinki s share of international passenger traffic at Finnish ports was 57.8%. Helsinki-Vantaa Airport s share of airline passengers in Finland was over 76%. Passenger Air traffic at Helsinki-Vantaa Airport International Domestic January February March April May June July August September October November December I-XII Change ,1 % -6,1 % 1,9 % Share % ,1 % 21,9 % 100,0 % Total Share % ,8 % 20,2 % 100,0 % 8

9 International passenger traffic at the ports of Helsinki and at Helsinki-Vantaa Airport Air traffic Lentoliikenne Ship traffic Laivaliikenne Cruise traffic on record level Last year 66 international cruise ships made a total of 270 visits to Helsinki, bringing 360,000 passengers to Helsinki for the day. The number of cruise visits increased by 13% and the number of passengers by 38%. Ships were thus larger in size. The number of ships making their first visit was 13. Two Spanish lines exchanged passengers in Helsinki on 17 visits. Exchanges were mainly made at the Hernesaari cruise terminal. The largest numbers of cruise passengers came from North America. Cruise passengers totalled 103,300 from the USA and Canada, 66,000 from Britain, 58,000 from Germany and 47,000 from Spain, with the last figure showing a sharp rise. Cruise passengers came from 150 different countries in all. Passenger traffic at the ports of Helsinki according to country of origin or destination Sweden Estonia Germany Total January February March April May June July August September October November December I-XII Change ,3 % 8,4 % 6,5 % 4,6 % Share % ,8 % 68,2 % 2,9 % 100,0 % Share % ,4 % 70,7 % 3,0 % 100,0 % According to a survey conducted by TNS Gallup, the average cruise passenger spends 128 in Helsinki. Estimating that about 85% of passengers come ashore, during the summer cruises brought Helsinki over 39 million in tourist income. Roughly 8 million is also received in the form of fairway, piloting, harbour and service charges. This brings the total amount of income to about 47 million. International Cruise traffic in Helsinki Yaer Ships Change Passangers Change % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % 9

10 Record number of international congresses Helsinki hosted 163 international congresses, which was an all-time high. These had a total of 26,590 participants. Only in 1999 and 2000 has the number of participants been higher than this. Espoo hosted 66 congresses with a total of 4,810 participants. International congresses Year Congresses Helsinki Whole country Share of Helsinki Congress guests Helsinki Whole country Share of Helsinki % % Helsinki s share of international congresses in Finland was 33% and its share of congress visitors was 44%. Both these figures were higher than in previous years. The Helsinki metropolitan area s share of congresses was 48% and participants 52%. Finland hosted 486 international congresses with a total of 60,710 participants. According to a study that was commissioned by Finland Convention Bureau, the average congress visitor contributes 1,640 to the local economy. International congresses thus brought about 51.5 million to the Helsinki metropolitan area in Over 15 million domestic day visitors Domestic day visitors are very important customers for Helsinki s services and shops. According to a survey conducted by TNS Gallup, Helsinki received about 1.3 million day visitors each month from outside the Helsinki region. During the year this adds up to 15.3 million day visitors, who contribute nearly 1.1 billion to the local economy. Over half of visits fall in the leisure category, while nearly a third are for business purposes. Visits to relatives and friends form the largest group. Visits are spread out quite evenly by month % % % % % % % % % % % % % % Busy time for Tourist Information The Helsinki City Tourist and Convention Bureau s Tourist Information at Pohjoisesplanadi 19 served over 375,000 visitors last year. The largest number (78,800) was recorded in August. At the beginning of October, because of remodelling, Tourist Information moved to temporary facilities next to the Senate Square and fewer people dropped by. The year before 419,900 visitors were recorded. The Tourist Information at the central railway station served about 44,000 visitors and the summer desk at the cruise terminal served over 20,800 cruise passengers or more than twice as many as the year before. Helsinki Helps served nearly 92,700 people in the city centre during the summer, which was 10,000 more than the year before. In addition 6,600 customers were served by phone and about 4,000 by , letter or fax. All in all Tourist Information served nearly 562,200 customers in The figure the year before was 574,000. The Helsinki City Tourist and Convention Bureau recorded over 1.3 million visits on its website in After extremely strong growth the year before (+54%), the number of visits fell by 14%. 10

11 Linnanmäki still the most popular attraction In 2008 Linnanmäki Amusement Park remained the most popular attraction in Helsinki, with 1,256,000 million visitors. The figure rose by about 5% compared with the year before. Next on the list were Suomenlinna, Temppeliaukio Church, the Uspenski Cathedral and the Helsinki Zoo. With the exception of Linnanmäki, all of these attractions had fewer visitors than the year before. Suomenlinna received 678,000 visitors. Temppeliaukio Church and the Uspenski Cathedral also attracted over half a million visitors, while the Helsinki Zoo fell slightly short of this figure. The Finnish National Gallery, Ateneum enjoyed a sharp increase in visitors and was the most popular museum. It was followed by the Museum of Contemporary Art, Kiasma in second place and by the Museum of Natural History and the National Museum of Finland. The Museum of Natural History reopened in May after being closed for over two years for repairs. The number of people visiting the branches of the Helsinki City Museum more than doubled after free admission was introduced at the beginning of the year. By far the most popular event was the Helsinki Festival. The number of visitors (262,600) was 15% lower than the year before, however. International comparison Compared with the nearest competing cities, Helsinki did quite well. Among the Nordic capitals Stockholm posted the highest growth in nights (7%), thanks mostly to domestic visitors. Copenhagen recorded a 2% drop and Oslo a 1% drop in nights. Helsinki reached nearly the same number of nights as Oslo but did not quite overtake it. In 2000 and 2003 Helsinki recorded slightly more nights than Oslo, but since then hotel capacity and nights have risen more strongly in Oslo. Visitors to main Helsinki attractions in 2007 and 2008 Visitors 2007 Visitors 2008 Linnanmäki Amusement Park Suomenlinna Temppeliaukio Church Uspenski Cathedral Helsinki Zoo Grand Casino Helsinki Helsinki Cathedral Helsinki Festival National Gallery, Ateneum Sea Life Helsinki Museum of Contemporary Art, Kiasma Finnish Museum of Natural History National Museum of Finland Gardenia Helsinki Helsinki City Art Museum / Tennis Palace World Village Festival Design Museum University of Helsinki Botanical Gardens Helsinki City Winter Garden Amos Anderson Art Museum Helsinki International Film Festival - Love & Anarchy Helsinki Cathedral crypt Helsinki City Art Museum/Meilahti Olympic stadium Helsinki City Museum Tuska-Festival Sinebrychoff Art Museum Seurasaari Open-Air Museum Sederholm House / Helsinki City Museum Didrichsen Art and Cultural Museum Tram Museum / Helsinki city Museum Submarine Vesikko / Military Museum Museum of Finnish Architecture Post Office Museum The Finnish Museum of Photography Tuomarinkylä Museum and Children s Museum / Helsinki City Sport Museum of Finland Technical Museum Finlandia House / Info Shop Urho Kekkonen Museum Tamminiemi Hakasalmi Villa / Helsinki City Museum Military Museum Bank of Finland Museum Helsinki City Art Museum / Kluuvi Gallery Mannerheim Museum Maneesi / Military Museum Seurasaari National Midsummer-Eve School Museum / Helsinki City Museum Helsinki University Museum Arppeanum Finnish National Opera Burger s House / Helsinki City Museum Power Station Museum / Helsinki City Museum Cygnaeus Gallery Total

12 Tourist & Convention Bureau Pohjoisesplanadi 19, P.O. Box 28 FI CITY OF HELSINKI Tel (0) , fax +358 (0) Tourist Information 2 May-30 September: Mon-Fri 9am-8pm, Sat-Sun 9am-6pm 1 October-1 May: Mon-Fri 9am-6pm, Sat-Sun 10am-4pm