Tourism benefits the whole of Finland – particularly tourism exports should be invested in

Domestic tourists are important and even essential for the economy and employment of many locations, and particularly for commerce companies. According to a study by the Visitory Research Team, nearly 40 per cent of the money spent by domestic tourists in Finland is spent on retail trade. The share also includes the retail trade in fuels. At the same time, just under 30 per cent of domestic tourists’ consumption is directed to accommodation and catering services.

Although domestic tourism is not a zero-sum game between individual locations, the consumption of a tourist may be partly out of the income stream of the domicile. Therefore, it is particularly interesting at the level of Finland as a whole to look at the income flow brought by foreign tourists.

Tourism exports have unrealised growth potential

According to Visitory’s calculations, the direct tourism income generated by both domestic and foreign tourists was almost EUR 11.8 billion last year. When the various indirect and multiplicative effects are taken into account – for example, the consumption of Finns employed by tourism or the acquisitions of companies serving tourists from other companies – the total tourism income was more than 70 per cent higher, approximately EUR 20.2 billion.

“The consumption of foreign tourists and the tourism income they generate to Finland represents only 11–12 per cent of the total tourism income. Finnish tourism exports are still very low,” says Kari Luoto, Managing Director of the Finnish Commerce Federation, commenting on the results of Visitory’s calculations.

Surprisingly, the money spent by foreign tourists on recreation, entertainment and other services is only 9 per cent of the money spent by all tourists on these services.

“There is clearly still work to be done in the development of services for foreign tourists, as there are opportunities for growth in tourism exports,” Luoto says.

Cooperation and supporting the development of services are key

According to the Finnish Commerce Federation, increasing tourism exports would require targeted support for the development of the tourism sector and an increase in Visit Finland’s appropriations.

“Business Finland’s programmes should be more targeted at private service sectors, and the funding criteria of the programmes should be changed and expanded so that they can improve the productivity and competitiveness of companies and develop better service concepts for the sector,” Luoto says, mentioning ways to support tourism.

However, public subsidies alone do not increase tourism exports. Cooperation between municipalities and companies in different sectors is essential for the long-term and target-oriented development of tourism. The comfort and vitality of city centres also play a significant role in increasing the attractiveness of Finland.

“Comfortable city centres that serve residents in a diverse manner are usually also pleasant for tourists,” Luoto says.

Attachment: Income and employment impacts of tourism in 2023
Further information: Kari Luoto, Managing Director, Finnish Commerce Federation, tel. +358 (0) 400 688 708, kari.luoto@kauppa.fi