Foreign tourists reappear in Helsinki News
The number of Christmas guests in the capital has increased.
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Helsinki sees more tourists than in almost two years, although visitor numbers are still a shadow over the pre-pandemic figures.
The capacity of hotels in Helsinki is now about 50 percent, compared to about 13 percent last December.
In December 2019, 180,000 foreign overnight stays were booked in hotels in Helsinki, which was 13,500 last year.
City of Helsinki Tourism Director Nina Versterinen, said that before the pandemic, Russian and Chinese visitors made up the majority of winter vacationers. In December 2019, the city had an all-time record of 36,000 Chinese and Russian visitors.
Today, most of the tourists in the capital come from Germany, and some also arrive from Sweden, the United Kingdom, the United States and Estonia.
“Eighty percent of hotel accommodations are currently made by domestic tourists,” Vesterinen said, adding that next year the tourism industry will also serve mainly Finns.
He noted that several new hotels are under construction in the capital, adding about 3,500 rooms to current availability.
“In 2024, Helsinki will be able to offer ten million overnight stays if the capacity is 100 percent. This is an indication of how much hope there is,” he said.
The area is especially congested at this time of year due to international visitors who want to spend Christmas in Finland.
To date, a total of 50 foreign tourists have been quarantined since receiving the virus.