Eurovision Song Contest brought 40,000 guests to Helsinki last year

Hundreds of foreign guests spent more than EUR 500 a day - price gouging by hotels seen as a problem

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The Eurovision Song Contest, which was held in Helsinki in May last year, brought 40,000 people from outside the Helsinki region to the Finnish capital. About ten per cent were guests from abroad.
     A study commissioned by the City of Helsinki found that when Helsinki residents are included, about 80,000 people attended events linked with the contest.
     
The greatest economic impact of the contest resulted from the organisation. The Helsinki region got EUR 12.6 million, of which EUR 10.8 million was from the organising of the event itself. Less than EUR 5 million came from outside guests.
     Foreign visitors especially were economically important. Whereas the Finnish Eurovision guests spent less than EUR 50 a day on average, hundreds of foreigners would spend more than EUR 500 in some cases.
     "Finnish guests acme to enjoy the experience. The foreigners came to party and to spend money", says Seppo Laakso of the urban research company Kaupunkitutkimus, which conducted the follow-up study.
     
Aggressive pricing by hotels was a big problem for guests from abroad. During the time of the contest, in May, a new record was set in hotel rates in the Uusimaa region. The average price for a hotel room was EUR 116, which even exceeds the record set for the World Championships in Athletics in 2005, when the average price of a night in a hotel rose to EUR 115.
     The high prices sparked considerable controversy, even though prices in other Eurovision host cities have tended to go up for the event.
     "It was easy for guests to see on the Internet that prices had been considerably lower a couple of months earlier. Belgrade will probably have to at least try to keep prices under control, on the basis of our experiences", says event manager Kjell Ekholm of the Finnish Broadcasting Company.
      Kaupunkitutkimus also concluded that in the future, it will be necessary to give more thought to hotel prices.
     "There is a clear risk in high hotel prices, and this could become a serious image problem for Helsinki. In the worst of cases, it could prevent the Helsinki region from getting large international events in the future", Laakso warns.
     
Helsinki's hotel problems arose already in the planning stages, as there is relatively little hotel accommodation available in Helsinki in the medium, and low price range.
     Turku was also a strong contender for the venue of the contest. The city had offered to arrange for housing on passenger ships in the city's harbour. However, Helsinki won out because of the better transport connections in the Finnish capital.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Serbian ballad wins Eurovision Song Contest - Belgrade hosts in 2008 (14.5.2007)
  Eurovision promotional merchandise floods Helsinki (11.5.2007)

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