Overview
The United States is one of the main long-haul destinations for Finns with over 79,388 Finnish arrivals in 2022. There is still a long way to go to get the numbers back to pre-COVID-19 era levels, with 142,405 Finnish arrivals in 2019.
The number of Finnish arrivals prior to Covid-19 was quite stable for many years. Florida, New York, and California continue to be the best prospects for the U.S. travel industry. Finns find it easy to adapt to American culture and are open to exploring new destinations and themes to travel to the United States. Although Finns generally favor “sun and sand” and city destinations, a growing number of travelers are interested in new destinations and looking for activity holidays. Individual travel packages including various activities such as local culture, nature, and sports are gaining interest. The Government of Finland imposes no restrictions on foreign travel for its citizens. Since October 1, 1991, Finland has been included in the U.S. Government’s Visa Waiver Program (VWP), allowing Finns to travel to the United States for tourism, business, or while in transit for up to 90 days without having to obtain a visa. Finnish passports have been machine-readable since 1987, and biometric passports were introduced in August 2006.
With an average of five weeks of annual leave, Finns take several holidays a year. Finns usually book their travel well in advance and take time to plan their holidays. Long-haul destinations are popular, and, with good English and other language skills, Finns are quite experienced travelers. Finnair, the national airline, in conjunction with OneWorld partner American Airlines, offers seasonal direct flights from Helsinki-Vantaa airport to Chicago, Miami, Los Angeles, and San Francisco, and around-the-year flights to New York City (JFK). As of February 2022 Finnair flies to Dallas from Helsinki all year round, and to Seattle in the April to August timeframe. Other airlines offering connecting flights to the United States with their alliance partner networks include Icelandair, Lufthansa, Air France-KLM, British Airways, and Scandinavian Airlines (SAS).
Leading Sub-Sectors
The popularity of the United States as a travel destination for Finland is based on the large variety of activities the nation offers. The east coast receives the largest volume of travelers from Finland, and, in addition to New York, Washington, DC and Boston are increasingly popular. Finnish travelers find it easy to combine various attractions and activities – beach holidays, city tours, theme parks, culture, shopping, nature, road trips, etc. – into a single trip. First-time travelers, families with children, and senior citizens favor Florida attractions and beach holidays, whereas younger people and experienced travelers favor the West Coast – San Francisco, Los Angeles, and San Diego. For Finnish business travelers, New York City, Chicago, Boston, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and Atlanta are the most common destinations.
Opportunities
Discover America Finland is a membership-based marketing collective and network consisting of airlines, car rental companies, cruise lines, hotels, tour operators, visitors & convention bureaus, and other organizations, promoting travel to the United States.
The annual Matka Nordic Travel Fair, (January 19-21, 2024), is the largest travel fair in Northern Europe, bringing together travel trade professionals, destinations, and other tourism organizations.
Information
Interested parties may contact Commercial Assistant Frida Kuusiluoma, Frida.kuusiluoma@trade.gov