Russian tourism continued to grow in South Karelia in 2019

During 2019, foreign tourists made a total of 1,9 million trips to South Karelia. The increase in the number of trips compared to the previous year was 11 percent.

96 percent of the tourists who visited South Karelia were Russian. The number of trips made by Russians in South Karelia increased by 15 percent.

The number of overnight trips made by Russians decreased by five percent, and up to 86 percent of the trips they make are day trips. Day trips increased by 19 percent.

The results emerge from the 2019 TAK Border Survey, which has been conducted since 1997 by interviewing foreign tourists who have visited Finland at Finland's busiest external border stations. In 2019, 12 interviews were conducted. Of those interviewed, 654 were Russian tourists.

310 million euros from Russian tourists

Tourists brought a total of more than 321 million euros to South Karelia, and the share of Russians is more than 310 million euros.

73 percent of Russians came to shop. 22 percent of the Russians were holidaymakers, while about three percent came on a business trip or to visit friends.

In total, Russians who visited South Karelia spent more than 268 million euros on product purchases. The amount of money spent on purchases increased by about one percent from 2018. The amount of money spent on services remained roughly at the level of 2018, i.e. less than 42 million euros.

Russians are more willing to recommend Imatra than Lappeenranta as a travel destination. On the other hand, Russians are more willing than tourists from other countries to recommend both Lappeenranta and Imatra as travel destinations.

About 71 of the tourists came from other countries than Russia, and they left almost 000 million euros in South Karelia. For others, the most common reason for Russians to come to South Karelia was a vacation trip.

Almost 3000 of the tourists arrived in Lappeenranta by plane.

The province needs interesting destinations

Almost half of the tourists who visited South Karelia went to one of the shopping centers in the region. In addition, 7 percent visited Lappeenranta harbor and Fortress, 6 percent visited Lappeenranta's pedestrian street and 5 percent visited Imatrankoski.

Particularly popular destinations were the area's swimming halls, ports and cruise ships, Holiday Club Saimaa, Vuoksi and Imatra harbor/Lammassaari.

of TAK Research Pasi Nurkan according to this, many (43%) of those who visited Lappeenranta Airport considered the airport to be the best destination in the region. 

- This shows that the airport is an important service for tourists. On the other hand, the result can also be interpreted as signaling that there are no particularly attractive tourist destinations in the area. This is also indicated by the fact that one in three of those who visited shopping centers considered them the most interesting destination.

On the other hand, of those who had visited one of the requested destinations, up to 61 percent answered that they did not consider any destination to be the best. South Karelia needs more interesting places to visit for tourists.

Development director of the city of Lappeenranta Markku Heinonen according to the study shows that the well-started cooperation in the development of tourism in the Saimaa region must be continued with determination.

- We should especially develop attractive products that attract international guests and Russians other than shopping tourists to South Karelia.

Tourism development manager of Imatran Seudun Kehitysyhtiö Oy Katja Vehviläinen encourages companies to use the corona period to develop products and adapt to the changed situation. Support is available from both Ely centers and Business Finland so that companies can improve their own operating conditions.

- Look to the future! Sustainability and digital purchaseability play an even more important role now and in the future.

The border closure cuts 25,4 million euros per month

Closing the external borders due to the corona virus cuts 25,4 million euros per month in South Karelia. Due to this, the net sales of trade and service sectors in South Karelia will decrease by almost 22 million euros per month.

If the borders remain closed for four months, the province's companies will lose 87 million euros in turnover. If the borders remained closed until the end of the year, this would mean a loss of more than 225 million euros in turnover and more than 900 person-years of work.

Markku Heinonen does not believe in the rapid opening of the Russian border and hopes for compensatory measures.

- It is difficult to predict the number and purchasing power of Russian tourists after the corona crisis, continues Katja Vehviläinen.

- On behalf of the whole of South Karelia, we sent a petition to the Government Council in March, in which we demand the allocation of EU funding and special measures of the state to compensatory measures resulting from the border closure. In light of this study, I think there are even stronger grounds for the required measures, Heinonen emphasizes.

For more information:

Research and Analysis Center TAK Oy
CEO Pasi Nurkka, pasitak.fi (pasi[at]tak[dot]fi), tel. 040 505 5903

Union of South Karelia
Provincial Director Matti Viialainen, matti.viialainenekarjala.fi (matti[dot]viialainen[at]ekarjala[dot]fi), tel. 044 770 1515

The city of Lappeenranta
Director of Development Markku Heinonen, markku.heinonenlappeenranta.fi (markku[dot]heinonen[at]lappeenranta[dot]fi), tel. 040 581 1998

Imatran Seudun Kehitysyhtiö Oy KEHY
Tourism development manager Katja Vehviläinen katja.vehlainenkehy.fi (katja[dot]vehvilainen[at]kehy[dot]fi), tel. 044 717 7991