Finland Promotes It’s Unique Attractions During Down Under Seminars

Finland received 5.3 million visitors in 2007, with Australians accounting for a record 40,000 overnight stays, said Satu Raunola, Representative, Australia, Finnish Tourist Bureau during travel industry and media presentations in Sydney last week to open a two-city series of Finland Down Under seminars.

“Finland, thanks to the combined efforts of our partners in Australia has gained a strong consumer profile which is definitely paying off for us,” she said.

Summer is the peak season for Australian visitors with over 70 per cent of Australians arrivals visiting Finland during the summer period between April and October.

Details of a range of new summer tours in Finland have been recently uploaded to www.visitfinland.com/au, she added.

[Pictured right: Satu Raunola welcomes Kari Halonen, Marketing Director, City of Helsinki Tourist & Convention Bureau, to the Finland Down Under Seminar at the Australian National Maritime Museum in Sydney.]

Helsinki remains a key attraction with some 22,600 Australian overnights in the Finnish capital last year.

The old capital of Turku with its 11^th century cathedral and castle is visited by more Australians each year, she said.

Lapland, one of Europe’s last wilderness frontiers, is also attracting more Australians.  This lovely region is particularly colourful in autumn when bush walking becomes a scenic activity.

The annual Finland Down Under seminars which were organised in Sydney and Melbourne during mid March provided the opportunity for agents to gain first hand knowledge of Finland and network with key tour operators.

There are several new products from the northern Finland-based company of A La Carte Lapland including the Arctic Express, said Riikka Oikannen, General Manager.

This exciting and unusual holiday adventure uses thoroughly reconditioned wooden coaches pulled by a renovated 1949 steam engine.

Another new product in 2008 is a winter safari with a difference.  Reindeer pull the sleigh.

Bentours has extended its range of holiday packages for the Finnish winter period which extends from November to April.

A new tour this year is Finnish Wilderness Week, said Teresia Fors, Bentours Sales and Marketing Manager.

Priced from $2030 per person, this package incorporates eight days of adventure activities from snow shoe hiking and dog sledding to igloo building and cross country skiing at the small ski resort of Ruka in the Artic Circle, she said.

Meanwhile Finnair will increase the number of its Asian gateways to 11 when Seoul comes on line in June, said Helen Blake, Country Sales Manager, Australia, New Zealand and New Caledonia.

The Helsinki-based carrier now offers a code share service from Sydney, Melbourne and Perth with Cathay Pacific to Hong Kong and Finnair to Finland, she said.

From May an Airbus A340-400 will be deployed on the daily non stop Hong Kong/Helsinki service adding a much needed boost to capacity, she added.

The carrier is also increasing frequencies between Helsinki and both Moscow and St Petersburg in the northern autumn. 

Exclusive Report by Thomas E. King, TravelMole’s Travel and Lifestyle Editor