Russian tourists stay shorter, spend less in Finland

An increasing number of Russian tourists tend to stay shorter and spend less money in Finland, due to the economic downturn in Russia, said the Finnish Commerce Federation (FCF) in a research published on Monday.

The research showed that more and more Russian visitors prefer making day trips to Finland for shopping instead of longer trips for tourist purposes.

Among Russians' trips to Finland, 72 percent are day trips for buying food and household goods. The share of tourists that travelled across the border to Finland at least once a month has increased by nearly 5 percent from a year ago.

However, spending of Russian visitors for accommodation in Finland has reduced by 11 percent in the first half of this year, compared with the corresponding period in 2013.

In addition, Russians are spending less money than before. From January to August this year, each Russian tourist in Finland spent 236 euros on average, 40 euros less than in 2013.

The number of Russian tourists to Finland has also dropped considerably by over 14 percent in the first half of this year from a year ago, revealed in a latest statistic done by Statistics Finland.

According to FCF, the decrease can be attributed to the economic downturn in Russia, including the continuing devaluation of Russian ruble.

Nevertheless, Juhani Pekkala, director of the Finnish Commerce Federation, pointed out that Finnish service sector's competitiveness must be improved.

The Federation does not expect the situation to return to normal until the economic situation in Russia get improved.