In the year 2021, for example, Oulanka National Park was still congested. Now, the number of visitors to national parks has returned to the levels seen before the koruna pandemic.
Visitor numbers to national parks fell slightly last year from their peak in the boom years. Metsähallitus attributes this to the opening up of society after the pandemic, general price increases and higher fuel prices.
For example, 176 000 visits were made to Oulanka National Park in Kuusamo and 97 200 to Syötte National Park in Pudasjärvi last year. The Rokua National Park in the Utajärvi, Vaala and Muhos regions attracted 54 800 visitors.
Hossa National Park in Suomussalmi had 77 700 visits last year and Hiidenport National Park in Sotkamo 11 300. Hossa and Hiidenport also celebrated five years and 40 years respectively last year.
According to Metsähallitus, the number of visits to Kainu, Koilisma and Pohjois-Ostrobothnia national parks and other excursion destinations maintained by Metsähallitus decreased by an average of 16 percent last year from 2021.
In 2021, during the corona period, the number of visits to national parks exceeded four million visits for the first time in the whole country, and Oulanga National Park, for example, was overcrowded. Last year, national parks were visited a total of 3.5 million times throughout the country, and the traffic jams have evened out.
*The subject can be discussed until 23:00 on January 26.*
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