“Finland is a developing country in tourism”, says Turku tourism boss – international visitors needed in the region

According to the 2024 statistics, tourism will be better than before the koruna in the Turku region. Domestic visitors are not enough.

– We lack a certain type of accommodation capacity, so we need more accommodation for tourists. We also need experience providers, i.e. entrepreneurs and businesses that want to create experiences. We definitely need more activity services,” says Kukkohovi.

He has long experience in the sector, including tourism in Northern Finland.

– Finland is a developing country in terms of tourism when you look at the world’s tourism figures. Many European countries have already surpassed the 2019 figures. Success cannot be achieved through domestic tourism alone,” Kukkohovi says.

The July season for about six weeks is too short.

– Europe is not vacationing until August, and September is absolutely wonderful, so outside of Lapland.

TJ Kristiina Kukkohovi Visit Turku from Archipelago looks at the camera. — Kristiina Kukkohovi, CEO of Visit Turku Archipelago, hopes to attract international visitors to the Turku region.

Lack of information on the potential of islands

The number of statistics overnight stays exceeded the level of the years preceding the corona last year, but in 2023 it was a peak year. There were about 1.3 million registered overnight stays in Southwest Finland in 2024. There were half a million unregistered, such as Airbnb.

One of the focus of Turku, Parainen and Naantali’s joint tourism company is the development of archipelago tourism. CEO Kristiina Kukkohovi disagrees that it is difficult to get to the archipelago.

– The biggest challenge is information, so you can get to the archipelago. I myself am outside the area and have often got there.

Project Director Carol Aren looks at the camera. — Last Tuesday, Carol Aren, the project manager, sent out an enquiry about the fate of the Rome-Turku flight.

Still waiting for the return of the Rome flight

We want more flights to Turku. Last year, 255,000 air passengers were recorded on Turku Field. The growth was about nine percent from the previous year.

The route to Copenhagen to be opened in April is the first new flight connection to Turku for two years.

– At least they did not say that the route would be abandoned. So we are still waiting for the decision, says Aren.

The tourist company also wants to invest in commuting.

– The machines should be full to fly profitable. There should be interest in both commuting and leisure travel, and preferably throughout the year.