Foreign Tourists Cautiously Increasing in Oulu
The number of nights spent by foreigners in Northern Ostrobothnian hotels in December 2011 was fifteen percent more than in December 2010, according to Statistics Finland.
Nationwide, there was a twelve percent increase in foreign stays but it seems that Finns are increasingly inclined to holiday abroad as well. Domestic tourism nationwide decreased by just under one percent.
Statistics Finland conducted their research on hotels with at least ten rooms, caravan sites with an electricity connection, cottages, and youth hostels.
The attractiveness of Finnish regions as a tourism destination varies dramatically. Oulu’s fifteen percent increase in foreign tourism is more than some regions, but is dwarfed by a 48 percent increase in foreigners staying in South Karelia and 23 percent increase in Åland.
Tourism in the Oulu region’s neighbour Central Ostrobothnia has gone into steep decline, falling by 21 percent in a year.
Of foreign tourists staying in Finland, the biggest increase is the Japanese, whose numbers have climbed by 37 percent, followed by Norwegians, with a 26 percent increase. In terms of raw numbers, it was the Russians and the British who were the most attracted to Finland in 2011, with 141,000 overnight stays and 104,000 overnight stays respectively.
However, the people of the Netherlands seem to have decided to give Finland a miss in the last year. The numbers of Dutch tourists have fallen by 20 percent.
The average price of a Finnish hotel room is now 91 euros per night, up from 87 euros in 2010.
