Overnight stays by Russian tourists up by 28 per cent in June from 2011

The number of recorded nights spent by Russian travellers at Finnish accommodation establishments in June 2012 was up by 28 per cent from the year before.
      Based on preliminary data from Statistics Finland, Russians were again by far the biggest group of foreigners at hotels, inns, youth hostels, caravan sites, and the like, with 100,000 nights spent.
      Germans were next with 76,000 nights spent. Overnight stays of Germans went up by 3%.
      Swedish tourists came third with nearly 61,000 overnight stays.
     
The figures for countries affected by the financial crisis show a downward trend.
      For example the number of overnight stays by Spanish visitors fell by 24%, and that of Italians by 17% relative to June 2011. Britons and US citizens were also here in fewer numbers than a year ago.
     
Overall, it appears that overnight stay figures were up by around 6% to just under 560,000 during the month. Measured regionally, Southern Karelia saw the greatest increase in tourism stays, shooting upwards by some 37%. There is a logic to this, as this is the part of the country bordering on Russia, and close to St. Petersburg.
      More data on tourism in June and in the year to date can be had from the Statistics Finland release, linked below.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Number of Russian visitors to Finland is increasing steadily (22.3.2012)
  Tourism from Russia has become a billion-euro business (27.9.2011)

See also:
  Recession felt in number of overnight stays in hotels in 2009 (22.1.2010)
  Helsinki tourism clearly up in 2010 (25.2.2011)
  Number of overnight stays at Helsinki´s accommodation establishments is on the rise (16.11.2010)

Links:
  Statistics Finland