Already in April 2022, records were broken in Finland, when the number of bed nights was higher than ever before at that time - thanks to domestic tourists. According to survey data, there were even more people who made domestic trips in May than in April, and in June the willingness to travel is at its peak.
This article introduces various tourism statistics and examines the willingness of Finns to travel - so a little glance of what the coming summer will look like. Note: Estimates assume that the sharp rise in fuel prices will not change the travel behavior of Finns.
In April 2022, the number of bed nights in Finland reached a historic height. The previous record was from 2019, as the growth curve had been on an upward trend for several years. In 2020 and 2021, the number of tourists in Finland was significantly lower than in previous years, but in the beginning of 2022 the number of bed nights has risen rapidly towards the level of 2019 and even exceeded it in April. The development in the number of bed nights is due to a sharp increase in domestic tourism. As many as 86 per cent of the bed nights registered in April 2022 were made by domestic tourists, while only 77 per cent of the registered bed nights in the comparison year 2019 were by Finnish tourists.
Let's take a closer look at the trend of registered bed nights. In April 2022, the number of domestic overnight stays did not change much from March 2022, which is exceptional when compared to the time before the pandemic. If the TAK Domestic Tourism survey is taken into account, about three out of five Finns made trips during the last 30 days in April-June (the first two weeks of June), while less than half of the total population made trips in March. Airbnb + Vrbo's booking data also showed growth already in May, especially in Tampere and Helsinki. In June, the number of reservations increased by up to around 15 per cent in those cities compared to May. The booking situation in July is still developing, but the booking situation for the first weekend is already exceptionally good.
In April 2022, the share of trips abroad also increased significantly, according to the TAK Domestic Tourism Survey. In April, almost every tenth of all trips made by Finns were taken abroad, while in March the share was half as small. In other words, in April, Finnish tourists dismantled their pent-up travel excitement by traveling exceptionally much both in Finland and abroad. However, those who travelled abroad did not eat up the tourism potential of domestic travel, as the share of those who travelled increased during April-May and in early June among the entire population. This makes monitoring tourism trends now particularly interesting, as trends cannot be expected to recover back to the time before the pandemic.
The willingness of Finns to travel also seems to increase systematically towards the summer, when in April and May about half of Finns planned to travel in Finland in the next 30 days and in June (during the first two weeks) up to three out of five said they would travel in Finland in the next 30 days. The share of the population going abroad has also increased from April to June, although the development is more moderate than that of those traveling domestically.
Up-to-date tourist information is now also provided by daily / monthly movement data (based on mobile operator data). Movement data includes the total number of day visitors and overnight stays in the area. Ask for more information on movement data at info@visitory.io