2 Visit Finland Visitor Survey 2014 Visit Finland Studies 1 Finpro, Visit Finland Helsinki 2015
3 Table of Contents Abstract... 5 Introduction... 6 Trips to Finland... 8 Day visitors, tourists staying overnight and transit passengers... 9 Duration of the trip... 10 Types of accommodation... 11 Purpose of the trip... 12 In Finland for the first time... 13 At least three times a year in Finland... 14 Expenditures before the trip and during the trip... 15 Expenditures per traveller per day... 16 Traveller spending breakdown on the average... 17 The primary travel destination in Finland... 18 Helsinki area... 19 Rest of Southern Finland... 20 Rest of Finland... 21 Other countries visited during the trip... 22 Visited other countries besides Finland during their trip... 23 Nordic countries... 24 Baltic countries... 25 Russia... 26 Other European countries... 27 Other, non-european countries... 28
4 The next travel destination... 29 Activities performed during the trip... 30 Shopping... 31 Restaurants... 32 Sightseeing... 33 Cultural sites... 34 The booking channel of the trip... 35 The tour operator's websites, on-line travel agency or other online booking sites... 36 Travel agency... 37 Hotel or the transportation company... 38 Area of residence in Russia... 39 Area of residence in China... 40 Area of residence in Japan... 41 Breakdown of gross annual income of the families of the travellers... 42 Age and gender distribution... 43
5 Abstract
6 Introduction PURPOSE OF THE SURVEY The TAK Border Survey, of which Visit Finland Visitor Survey is part of, is a continued research that started in 1997, the purpose of which is to provide information on non-resident visitors to Finland. The survey will help to identify the annual number of tourists to Finland and the amount of money left by them in Finland. In addition, the study provides information on the profiles of incoming tourists from different countries: how long do people stay in Finland, where do they stay, why do they come to Finland, how often do they come to Finland, what do they do during the trip, where do they go during the journey, what do they do in Finland, etc. CONDUCT OF THE SURVEY The survey is carried out by interviewing tourists that are more than 14-years-old, residing abroad and exiting Finland at the border stations at various days and times. The interviewees were picked by equally spaced sampling, e.g., by selecting every fifth passenger. Interview dates were selected at random. Interviews were done in Helsinki and Turku ports, at the Helsinki, Turku, Tampere, Rovaniemi and Kittilä airports, as well as at the eastern border in Vaalimaa, Nuijamaa, Vainikkala, Imatra and Niirala. At the eastern border, the heavy traffic is not taken into account, and at the ports of Helsinki, international cruise ships are ignored. Helsinki airport transit traffic is, however, included in the results. In the report, the number of trips corresponds to the number of foreign tourists who left Finland in 2014 via border stations. However, when counting the trips on the eastern border in the year 2014 and for the present, Russian citizens residing in Finland have been included. In 2014, a total of 74 051 tourists exiting Finland were approached. Of these, 61% lived in Finland. Out of non-residents, 2.4% were under 15 years old, and 12.7% refused to answer, did not have time to answer or were not interviewed due to some other reason. The number of completed interviews conducted during the year was a total of 18 527. Tutkimus- ja Analysointikeskus TAK Oy is responsible for practical implementation of the survey.
7 RELIABILITY OF THE RESULTS The results are weighted to match the actual number of passengers at airports, ports and the eastern border. As regards the Helsinki airport, the passenger volume is weighted according to the travel destination (country). In addition, the data on the eastern border has been weighted to reflect the real distributions of passenger cars, buses and minibuses (7-16 passengers). The travellers who are working in Finland or were on a work/study trip that lasted for more than three months or those who have visited Finland more than 50 times a year have been removed from the results. The countries, of which the number of residents which were interviewed during the year was less than 100, have been placed under the point other countries. The error margin of the survey results for the percentage of the entire material is up to ± 0.8 percentage points and the error margin for country-specific percentage depending on the country is up to ± 1.2-9.1 percentage points. COMPARABILITY OF THE RESULTS Tilastokeskus (Statistics Finland) and Matkailun edistämiskeskus (Visit Finland) conducted Border Survey from 1998 until 2012. In the year 2013 the research was not accomplished. TAK Border Research was started in 1997, but during the first years it focused on Russians traveling in Finland. In 2014 TAK Border Research was extended to cover all nationalities. When comparing 2014 results to 2012 results, it is necessary to take into account a number of points. In 2012 Tilastokeskus also interviewed at Tornio and Karigasniemi border stations, where as in 2014 interviews were not conducted at these border stations, because of the small number of travellers. Instead, interviews were done at Imatra border station, where Tilastokeskus didn t conduct them. Almost fifth of the Russian tourists visiting Finland travel via Imatra border station. Unlike earlier, in 2014, also transit passengers were interviewed at Helsinki airport. The share of transit passengers within East Asians is large, because of Finnair s vast Asian connections. This can be seen in the results i.e. as a larger number of Japanese, Chinese and Korean tourists.
8 Trips to Finland 4 000 3 500 3 000 thousand trips 2 500 2 000 1 500 3 812 1 000 500 0 654 505 352 336 291 272 196 192 179 175 118 114 114 104 95 86 71 63 57 54 46 42 35 661 In 2014, foreign residents made a total of 8.62 million trips in Finland. The trips do not include the persons working in Finland, the persons on work/study trips lasting for more than three months and the persons who visit Finland more than 50 times during the year. Such trips amounted to a total of 1.73 million during the year.
9 Day visitors, tourists staying overnight and transit passengers 3 900 3 800 2 600 2 500 1243 Overnight Day Visitors Transit passengers Tuhannet thousand trips 700 600 500 400 300 200 100 0 363 2411 270 159 256 144 158 132 38 91 58 122 127 96 55 119 109 204 121 122 30 35 40 38 41 29 33 120 117 70 94 71 77 54 54 57 37 33 35 28 10 20 12 29 21 11 21 37 24 10 8 12 23 15 13 14 462 111 89 Transit passengers are day visitors who were leaving Finland through the Helsinki Airport and who reported having been in Finland only for passing through the country. Many transit passengers from Sweden and Estonia arrive in Helsinki by boat.
10 Duration of the trip 10 9 8 7 days on average 6 5 4 3 2 1 4,0 2,7 3,8 4,2 6,5 4,6 3,5 4,3 5,6 5,5 2,3 8,7 4,7 4,8 2,9 4,6 3,0 4,9 4,1 6,9 3,0 5,1 5,9 5,0 3,1 7,6 0 In 2014, non-resident tourists stayed in Finland for a total of about 23.7 million nights, of which 9.3 million nights were spent in hotels, motels (or adjacent cabins), hostels or paid campgrounds. The rest of the nights were spent at friends and relatives places as well as in apartments and cabins rented or owned by the traveller / belonging to the employer. About one in five people living in Spain spent more than a week in Finland while the trips to Finland lasting on average for over a week were made by less than every tenth tourist residing abroad.
11 Types of accommodation 10 9 8 7 6 4% 11% 7% 4% 23% 4% 22% 23% 6% 2% 1% 5% 9% 2% 17% 11% 3% 8% 13% 18% 18% 12% 3% 4% 2% 5% 14% 4% 6% 2% 4% 7% 3% 2% 7% 13% 5% 13% 21% 5% 6% 7% 7% 2% 7% 17% 3% 5% 8% 6% 7% 9% 22% 9% 12% 4% 1% 2% 3% 8% 7% 12% 1% 5% 2% 2% 4% 19% 22% 8% 2% 4% 4% 29% 4% 5% 1% 5% 1% 3% 4% 54% 5% 5% 3% 3% 45% 49%44% 36% 35% 33% 38%36% 44% 44% 6% 6% 38%33% 1% 4% 5% 32% 1% 26% 2% 23% 5% 25% 19% 27% 13% 13% 11% Other (incl., apartment or cabin, apartment or cabin belonging to the employer, etc.) Friends or relatives Rental cottage or apartment (from a private person, from an intermediary, through a reservation center) Youth hostel or paid campsite (tent, camper, caravan, cabin) Hotel, motel (or an adjacent cabin) Residents of the Netherlands, Denmark, Belgium and Latvia, are more often than anyone else in Finland on a business trip. Passengers arriving from these countries are also using hotel accommodation clearly more than the average.
12 Purpose of the trip 10 9 8 7 6 3% 8% 11% 12% 8% 6% 8% 5% 3% 4% 6% 5% 8% 5% 9% 7% 8% 5% 14% 14% 13% 13% 11% 17% 16% 22% 27% 23% 15% 26%14% 31% 18% 24% 24% 15% 45% 34% 23% 17% 13% 39% 2% 23% 17% 25% 16% 14% 19% 15% 17% 19% 68% 14% 21% 19% 24% 5% 4% 9% 41% 3% 25% 21% 5% 33% 18% 4% 32% 23% 28% 37% 27% 34% 38% 32% 38% 37% 48% 36% 24%16%47% 51% 37% 3% 35% 37% 27% 29% 31% 23%21%22% 22%18% 18% 23% 25% 22% 16% 12% 14% 9% 12% 4% 3% 5% 5% Other Transit A visit to friends or relatives Holiday trip Business trip or a trip to the congress, fair or seminar Other trips include shopping and study trips. In regard to residents of Russia, other trips comprise predominantly shopping trips.
13 In Finland for the first time 10 9 8 7 6 69% 75% 48% 57% 62% 88% 69% 65% 54% 28% 62% 29% 59% 45% 65% 29% 65% 58% 43% 76% 59% 14% 5% Out of the first-time visitors in Finland in 2014, three out of four (77%) live outside of the Scandinavian and the Baltic countries and outside of Russia. More than a third (38%) of these visitors from faraway countries had been in Finland earlier.
14 At least three times a year in Finland 10 9 8 7 6 78% 67% 45% 19% 14% 9% 22% 23% 4% 12% 3% 19% 39% 16% 28% 12% 27% 18% 38% 7% 9% 17% 7% 17% More than three-quarters of Russians visiting Finland and more than two-thirds of Estonians visited our country at least three times during the year. Also out of those living in Sweden, almost half visited Finland at least three times during 2014. A quarter of the visitors residing in Great Britain, France and Belgium visited Finland at least three times in the year.
15 Expenditures before the trip and during the trip 1 100 M 1 000 M 900 M Money spent in Finland Prior costs 800 M 700 M 600 M 962 500 M 400 M 300 M 200 M 303 100 M 0 M 117 102 141 169 72 74 89 50 48 72 72 71 65 86 47 61 19 43 30 28 29 21 27 23 16 8 27 17 15 9 112 In 2014, non-resident tourists spent EUR 2.45 billion in Finland. In addition, they paid EUR 0.85 billion in advance for Finnish travel packages, accommodations, car rentals, etc. Part of this amount, however, remains with foreign travel agencies and intermediaries of travel services. Two-fifths of all the money used by foreigners in Finland was spent by passengers living in Russia.
16 Expenditures per traveller per day 220 200 180 Services Shopping 160 140 120 31 105 100 80 60 40 20 0 53 98 119 84 100 35 81 31 70 75 66 73 84 28 62 70 66 57 68 72 82 62 44 58 41 12 30 36 20 11 14 13 30 21 24 9 10 12 22 19 17 9 6 20 29 12 80 80 39 30 Travellers arriving in Finland from Russia spend EUR 119 per day on shopping. The travellers arriving from China also use a large sum - EUR 100 per day - for shopping while the travellers coming from elsewhere spend up to EUR 40 per day on shopping during their trip to Finland. The weight of shopping in the travel budget is also high in case of the travellers arriving from Estonia, Japan and South Korea, as they use half of their daily budget for shopping. The share of shopping of the tourists coming from other countries amounts up to one-third of the total spending.
17 Traveller spending breakdown on the average Transport 10 % Services 4 % Other 6 % Accommodation 22 % Restaurants and cafes 19 % Shopping and groceries 39 % On average, about one-fifth of the travel budget of the travellers who visited Finland in 2014, was spent on accommodation, one fifth was spent on meals, two-fifths on purchases and the remainder for transportation and other services.
18 The primary travel destination in Finland The picture shows the main destinations of the residents of Russia and other countries who visited Finland in 2014. The main destinations of the residents of Russia differ from those of the other passengers significantly due to the geographical location of Russia. While Russians head mainly to the eastern side of the Helsinki-Joensuu axle, other tourists mostly travel to the Helsinki-Turku-Tampere region. The northern road border stations were not included in the survey. However, interviews were conducted at Kittilä and Rovaniemi airports.
19 Helsinki area 10 9 Main destination the Helsinki Metropolitan Area 8 7 6 54% 71% 6 68% 59% 68% 64% 73% 55% 68% 73% 68% 67% 73% 63% 63% 75% 59% 7 81% 69% 62% 69% 65% 25% For residents of Russia, the Helsinki area was the primary destination in every fourth case, whereas for visitors arriving from other countries it was the main destination in well over half the cases.
20 Rest of Southern Finland 10 9 Main destination the rest of Southern Finland 8 7 6 62% 5% 6% 8% 1% 2% 5% 4% 5% 1% 4% 4% 7% 3% 5% 7% 8% 3% 3% 4% 2% 2% 2% 2% 4% With the exception of Russian residents, the rest of Southern Finland was the primary destination for less than one in ten travellers.
21 Rest of Finland 10 9 Main destination the rest of Finland 8 7 6 17% 18% 13% 24% 27% 24% 3% 24% 18% 25% 25% 16% 26% 18% 25% 13% 19% 16% 11% 23% 28% With the exception of South Korean residents, one to three out of ten tourists, depending on their country of residence, headed outside of Southern Finland.
22 Other countries visited during the trip In 2014, 59% of the tourists residing abroad and visiting Finland also visited some other country (other than their own country of residence) during their visit to Finland. A little less than a fifth of them travelled to Sweden and Estonia, a little less than one in ten travelled to Norway and Denmark, and about one in twenty travelled to Latvia and Russia. Almost one in four travelled to other European countries, and one in eight travelled outside of Europe.
23 Visited other countries besides Finland during their trip 10 9 8 7 6 24% 49% 63% 67% 97% 86% 67% 83% 9 97% 86% 94% 65% 61% 7 76% 67% 81% 8 81% 95% 87% 95% 96% 83% Travellers residing in China, South Korea, Singapore, Canada, Lithuania, Australia and the United States were most likely to visit another country besides Finland during their trip. From among them, at least nine out of ten visited another country during their trip. The least likely ones to visit another country during their trip to Finland were the travellers residing in Russia, Sweden, Denmark and Estonia.
24 Nordic countries 10 9 Visited another Nordic country besides Finland during their trip 8 7 6 5% 13% 28% 53% 22% 17% 32% 49% 25% 39% 8% 7% 13% 16% 26% 23% 6% 19% 34% 57% 46% 32% At least every second passenger residing in India, China and the US visited another Nordic country besides Finland during their trip.
25 Baltic countries 10 9 Visited the Baltic countries besides Finland during their trip 8 7 6 5% 6% 2% 32% 17% 21% 34% 37% 56% 44% 34% 11% 45% 13% 27% 43% 28% 42% 67% 11% 44% 41% At least every second tourist residing in Canada, Spain and the United States visited the Baltic countries during their trip.
26 Russia 10 9 Visited Russia besides Finland during their trip 8 7 6 5% 6% 5% 6% 3% 5% 6% 31% 5% 8% 19% 8% 1% 5% 2% 4% 1% 2% 15% 6% 4% 4% 15% The tourists living in the United States, Australia and Canada were most likely to visit Russia in connection with their trip to Finland.
27 Other European countries 10 9 Visited other European countries (other than the Nordic or the Baltic countries or Russia) besides Finland during their trip 8 7 6 12% 6% 35% 6% 43% 49% 8% 33% 69% 11% 66% 7% 11% 11% 14% 9% 18% 27% 36% 23% 61% 27% Other European countries were most frequently visited by the tourists residing in South Korea, Australia, Singapore, Canada, Japan and China.
28 Other, non-european countries 10 9 Visited a non-european country besides Finland during their trip 8 7 6 2% 31% 21% 15% 5% 19% 25% 8% 18% 27% 19% 41% 11% 34% 23% 21% 42% 25% 19% 13% 7% 13% Tourists residing in Lithuania, Poland, Denmark, Norway and Sweden were most likely to head outside Europe.
29 The next travel destination Russia was the next destination for two out of five travellers in Finland. The next common destinations were Estonia, Sweden, Germany and Spain. Stopover destination has been marked as the next destination for travellers who didn t have a non-stop flight.
30 Activities performed during the trip 10 9 8 7 6 55% 49% 32% 17% 8% 8% 7% 5% 4% 3% 3% 3% 3% 3% 3% 3% 21% The most preferred activities practiced during the trip in Finland include making purchases, visits to restaurants (food, bars and night clubs), viewing places of interest (e.g., tours, significant buildings, monuments and historical sites) and visiting cultural attractions (e.g., museums, concerts, theatre and art exhibitions).
31 Shopping 10 9 Went shopping during their trip 8 7 6 81% 34% 44% 38% 41% 37% 44% 36% 46% 52% 35% 33% 44% 39% 46% 36% 42% 25% 55% 42% 27% 43% 52% Russian tourists are the most enthusiastic ones to do shopping in Finland. Also, every second visitor coming from Canada, Australia, China and Japan went shopping during their trip to Finland.
32 Restaurants 10 9 Went to a restaurant during their trip 8 7 6 35% 49% 43% 53% 46% 41% 63% 55% 61% 26% 59% 56% 61% 54% 6 56% 57% 65% 48% 57% 71% 51% 43% 59% 58% * Restaurant = dining restaurant, bar, or nightclub Residents of the neighbouring countries, as well as tourists from the Far East, use restaurant services less frequently than travellers on average.
33 Sightseeing 10 9 Went sightseeing during their trip 8 7 6 17% 21% 28% 53% 64% 51% 47% 44% 63% 66% 72% 47% 25% 44% 24% 54% 48% 37% 36% 69% 56% 28% 67% 57% *Sightseeing = tours, significant buildings, monuments and historical sites, etc. Residents of the Nordic and Baltic countries are less likely to go sightseeing in Finland than tourists arriving from other countries.
34 Cultural sites 10 9 Visited cultural sites during their trip 8 7 6 15% 12% 26% 21% 26% 23% 32% 36% 13% 31% 34% 32% 17% 41% 11% 24% 31% 16% 6% 22% 16% 15% 32% * Cultural sites = museums, concerts, theatre and art shows, etc. Cultural sites in Finland do not seem to be particularly attractive for the tourists coming from the Nordic and Baltic countries. Likewise, the residents of South Korea or Singapore are not frequent visitors to the Finnish cultural sites.
The booking channel of the trip 10 9 8 7 6 36% Channels used for obtaining accommodation or travel tickets 11% 7% 23% 1% 2% 12% Accommodation and travel tickets are most often acquired through a tour operator's website, an online travel agency or other online booking sites. Over a quarter (27%) of the passengers book their trip/accommodation directly through the hotel or transport company. Travel agencies (excl. webpages) are used by a fifth of the tourists. 35 The tour operator's website or an online travel agency or other online booking site I went to tour operator s or travel agent s service point Call or e-mail to the tour operator or travel agency Hotel or transport company's own website On-site in the hotel or at the transport company's service desk Call or e-mail to the hotel or transport company Other channel (eg. the employer reserved the trip) None of these
36 The tour operator's websites, on-line travel agency or other online booking sites 10 9 Obtained accommodation or travel tickets online 8 7 6 31% 36% 46% 37% 24% 39% 43% 44% 33% 38% 45% 42% 48% 38% 42% 35% 34% 32% 31% 45% 26% 42% 39%
37 Travel agency 10 9 Obtained accommodation or travel tickets from a travel agency (excluding the website) 8 7 6 13% 21% 14% 19% 32% 46% 17% 14% 16% 18% 19% 39% 22% 16% 15% 15% 16% 14% 12% 32% 22% 17% 34% 8% 24% If not to take into account the websites of travel agencies, tourists residing in Japan, Australia, Lithuania, Latvia and China are the ones who book the majority of trips to Finland or accommodation in Finland via travel agencies.
38 Hotel or the transportation company 10 9 Obtained accommodation or travel tickets directly from the hotel or the transportation company 8 7 6 32% 33% 24% 25% 25% 29% 28% 19% 18% 23% 27% 35% 31% 32% 26% 16% 23% 16% 33% 22%
39 Area of residence in Russia Two thirds of the travellers, who visited Finland and reside in Russia, live in St. Petersburg and every tenth in the Leningrad Region. About every twentieth lives in Moscow.
40 Area of residence in China Tourists, who visited Finland and reside in China, 29 % live in Hong Kong, 16 % in Beijing, 13 % in Shanghai and 11 % in Chongqing. Finnair has non-stop flights to these cities from Helsinki.
41 Area of residence in Japan Tourists, who visited Finland and reside in Japan, about half live in Kantō, where Tokyo and Yokohama are located. Almost a quarter lives in Kansai, where Osaka and Kyoto are located, and fifth lives in Chūbu, where Nagano is located.
42 Breakdown of gross annual income of the families of the travellers 18% 16% 14% 12% 8% 6% 4% 2% About half (48%) of the families of the tourists living abroad who visited Finland in 2014 earn a maximum of EUR 30 000 per year. Four-fifths of the families earn up to EUR 70 000.
43 Age and gender distribution 10 9 8 7 6 55% 45% 26% 25% 11% 2% 6% Male Female Under 15 15-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 Over 64 55% of the foreign resident tourists who visited Finland in 2014 were men, and 45% were women. Most travellers who visited Finland were 25 to 44 years of age.
44 Finpro, Visit Finland Porkkalankatu 1, PL 358 FI-00181 Helsinki www.visitfinland.fi/ ISBN 978-951-822-051-3 (Electronic publication) ISSN 2342-8791 (Electronic publication)