Helsinki does not aim for individual tourist destinations, but wants that there is always something new and interesting to be found in the city. Karoliina Vuorenmäki

The city of Helsinki has a specific goal for attracting tourists. The city’s deputy mayor, Anni Sinnemäki, says that the tactics are completely different from popular city vacation destinations.

Helsinki does not want individual popular tourist destinations with huge passenger flows. Instead, we want visitors who stay longer in the city and return to Helsinki.

At Finlandia-talo Oy’s media event, Sinnemäki compared Helsinki to Venice, Amsterdam and Berlin, which have run into difficulties due to huge numbers of tourists.

– Under no circumstances do we want to find ourselves in a situation in the future where the townspeople would suffer from passengers.

Currently, a typical person visiting Helsinki spends an average of five days in the city. The longest visit times are those who come to Helsinki for a conference, congress or other big event.

Such guests also leave the city with the most money. According to Helsinki Partners’ estimate, one visitor leaves 2,000 euros in the city during their trip. For comparison, a traveler going on a cruise, for example, leaves the city with only about 60 euros.

CEO of Finlandia Hall Johanna Tolonen according to this reason, it is important that Helsinki competes for international congresses and events.

– There is a crying shortage of large event venues in Helsinki. Currently, hotels also have low occupancy rates in Helsinki.

The renovation and re-opening of Finlandia Hall has been proposed as one solution. Finlandia Hall will open its doors again in January 2025.