Recovery of tourism slowed down in January 2022

The number of overnight stays by foreign visitors was over five times higher than in the previous year and the number of overnight stays recorded for foreign visitors was 0.33 million. Finnish accommodation establishments recorded a total of 1.02 million overnight stays, which was 49 per cent more than one year before but 39 per cent less than in January 2020

Overnight stays by resident visitors at Finnish accommodation establishments increased by 9 per cent from last year and 0.69 million nights were recorded for them in January 2022. However, the number of domestic overnight stays was 28 per cent lower in January 2020 before the pandemic. The number of overnight stays by foreign visitors was over five times higher than in the previous year and the number of overnight stays recorded for foreign visitors was 0.33 million. Finnish accommodation establishments recorded a total of 1.02 million overnight stays, which was 49 per cent more than one year before but 39 per cent less than in January 2020. These figures are preliminary data from Statistics Finland’s statistics on accommodation establishments and they have been collected from accommodation establishments with at least 20 beds or caravan pitches with electricity connection.

Monthly overnight stays at accommodation establishments, 2019–2022

Monthly overnight stays at accommodation establishments, 2019–2022

Recovery slowed down for both resident and non-resident visitors

The recovery of tourism is illustrated by comparison to the pre-pandemic situation two years ago. Overnight stays by resident visitors decreased by 28 per cent from January 2020. Overnight stays by non-resident visitors were 53 per cent less than two years ago.

Changes in overnight stays (%) monthly compared with two years back

Changes in overnight stays (%) monthly compared with two years back

Examined by region, overnight stays decreased in all regions in January 2022 when compared to January 2020. Overnight stays decreased most in Uusimaa, by 60 per cent, Pirkanmaa, by 57 per cent and South Karelia, by 51 per cent. Compared to January last year, overnight stays increased in all regions with the exception of Pirkanmaa, where overnight stays decreased by 10 per cent.

Change in overnight stays in January by region 2022/2021, %

Change in overnight stays in January by region 2022/2021,%

Occupancy rates of hotel rooms highest in Lapland

Among the regions, the highest occupancy rates of hotel rooms were measured in Lapland, 50.6 per cent, and in Kainuu, 40.7 per cent. In Helsinki, the hotel room occupancy rate was 18.5 per cent, 22.9 per cent in Tampere, 24.5 per cent in Turku, 33.0 per cent in Oulu and 56.7 per cent in Rovaniemi.

In January 2022, the realised average price of a hotel room was EUR 109.44 per day for the whole country. Twelve months earlier, it was EUR 91.22. There was a total of 54,787 hotel rooms available in Finland, which was 7,428 more than in January 2021.

Hotel room occupancy rate and the monthly average price

Hotel room occupancy rate and the monthly average price

Most overnight stays by French visitors

The biggest group of non-resident visitors were French with 54,000 overnight stays. The second largest group was Germans with 42,000 overnight stays. The third largest group was Dutch visitors with 42,000 overnight stays , and fourth were Britons with 36,000 overnight stays. The fifth largest group was Belgians (16,000 nights), sixth was Estonians (14,000 nights), seventh Italians (12,000 nights) and eight Swiss visitors (11,000 nights).

Source: Accommodation Statistics, Statistics Finland