Pasi Nurkka knows what Russian customers want

By Leena Härkönen
     
      On an autumn Saturday, managing director Pasi Nurkka and his wife are shopping in their home city Lappeenranta. He gets the feeling that in every shop, they are the only customers who are not Russian.
      This comes as no surprise to Nurkka. His Research- and Analysing Centre Ltd., or TAK, has produced information about Russia from 1991. The information has been gathered with the help of interviews of Russians travelling in Finland.
      This year more of them than ever will be coming to Finland, and the trend is expected to continue.
     
Nurkka, 47, notes that only one in five residents of St. Petersburg have visited Finland; nearly four million have not.
      Nurkka speaks of latent pressure. “More people there have prospered, and although the average level of income is low by Finnish standards, more Russians can now afford to travel abroad.”
      Many choose Finland, which is close, reliable, and peaceful.
     
In the study, two observations are repeated from one year to the next: passenger numbers are growing, and people come to Finland primarily to shop.
      “High-quality and reliable goods are available here - no counterfeit goods”, Nurkka explains.
      The price is also an incentive. Some goods are more expensive in Russia than in Finland, and buying the goods tax-free for export can knock off up to a third of the price.
     
Shopping tourism reflects developments in Russia. At first, shoppers bought cars, and later automotive equipment. Next there was high demand for construction material and furniture.
      Residents of St. Petersburg and areas near the border buy perishable goods in Finland. Now retailers on the Finnish side are waiting to see if the new mega-markets that are going up in Russia will have an effect.
     
Also affecting the profile of the tourists was Russia’s customs service. When it decided that one person could bring in 35 kg. of goods a month without paying customs duties, many businessmen and day travellers stayed at home.
      Gone were the “kilo-girls”, who earned money as additional travellers. The women, mostly from Vyborg, would wait at the border until the owners of a car would go shopping, and the goods would be divided among several travellers before the border was crossed.
      The weight limits led to a situation in which Russians started buying more clothing, and the most important clothing chains found their way to the southeast of Finland. Now the regulations have been eased, and a return of the kilo girls is expected.
     
Prosperous Russians are conspicuous on the streets of Lappeenranta, and some businesses essentially depend on them. Still, two thirds of those visiting Finland have a joint family income of less than EUR 2,100 a month.
      So many Russians can be seen in Lappeenranta that some Finns have started avoiding the city. Even locals sometimes complain that the Russians are arrogant, that they flout parking restrictions, and drive recklessly.
      The visitors are not especially bothered by the attitudes of locals. They are most annoyed by queues at the border and the lack of services in Russian.
     
Russians go to shops where they are made to feel like welcome customers”, Nurkka says.
      He also feels that in spite of everything, attitudes in the southeast of Finland are more positive than in the west of the country. The Russians have been seen, and they are no longer a threat.
      “Although there’s plenty of grumbling and individual comments, usually people recognise the benefits that Russians bring. Russia is our area of special expertise, as it were.”
      He sees the economic significance of the Russians as so great that their presence is purely positive.
     
“Sometimes with my colleagues we talk about the differences between Russian tourists and Finnish vodka tourists. There are very few disturbances like that. The Russians usually behave in a very civilised manner.”
      Nurkka’s first experiences with Russians was when he made a survey on behalf of a sporting goods shop in Lappeenranta which had set up an outlet in St. Petersburg. He asked the employees of the store about their favourite exercise and sport activities.
      He was surprised to hear that swimming and fishing were the favourites. But it is no longer surprising: spas and fishing remain favourite activities of Russians while they are in Finland.
     
The recession led to a sharp decline in Russians buying real estate. Many Finns made good money while the boom lasted. Nurkka now expects a revival in the business, but he does not expect sky-high prices.
      “Buyers are price-conscious businessmen. They are no morons.”
      Those who buy houses in Finland generally keep to themselves. Nearly every second house in the neighbourhood of Nurkka’s home are owned by Russians, but they do not interact much even with each other.
     
Nurkka says that the southeast corner of Finland would be very different without the Russians - much less prosperous.
      He notes that Finland will never lose its one overwhelming advantage with respect to Russia: its location. Finland is still the easiest country to get to.
     
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 24.10.2010


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Tourism from Russia increases tax-free sales in southeastern city of Lappeenranta (22.6.2010)
  Fewer Russian New Year tourists than a year ago (31.12.2009)
  Finland continues to attract Russian tourists, but next year looks bleaker on the incoming front (15.12.3008)
  Russian tourist spending reaches record levels (20.12.2006)

Links:
  Research- and Analysing Centre Ltd