HELSINKI, July 30 (Xinhua) -- Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of overnight stays by foreign tourists in Finland dropped by nearly 93 percent in June 2020, Statistics Finland said in a press release issued on Thursday.
In June, the country's accommodation facilities recorded 1.09 million overnight stays, 52.3 percent less than in June 2019. The number of overnight stays by domestic tourists declined by 37.7 percent, and the respective figure for foreign tourists was minus 92.7 percent, year-on-year.
In June, the number of overnight stays by foreign tourists remained almost as low as it was in April and May, the worst period of the pandemic. Last month, the number of overnight stays by German tourists dropped by 95 percent year-on-year.
According to Statistics Finland, the largest number of foreign tourists came from Estonia (7,900 overnight stays), followed by Norway (4,200), Germany (4,100) and Sweden (2,200). Russians, usually one of the biggest groups of foreign tourists in Finland, spent only 1,200 nights in the country June this year.
In the Uusimaa province, where the capital Helsinki is located, the number of overnight stays by foreign tourists dropped by 95.8 percent in June year-on-year. In Lapland, a top tourism destination in northern Finland, the respective figure was minus 94.2 percent.
Between January and June this year, a total of 6.08 million nights were spent by tourists in Finnish accommodation facilities, 42.6 percent less than in the same period in 2019. The number of nights spent by foreign tourists dropped by 48.9 percent from the previous year.
The biggest decline was seen in overnight stays by Russians, down 166,600 nights, or 40.7 percent less than in the corresponding period of 2019.
According to Statistics Finland, a total of 100,712 passengers were serviced at Finland's airports in June this year, 96 percent less than one year ago. However, the number of passengers has significantly increased since May this year.
Finnish national broadcaster Yle commented on Thursday that June 2020 was a catastrophic month for the country's accommodation facilities.
Finland's National Institute for Health and Welfare reported that as of Thursday afternoon, the country had confirmed 7,423 COVID-19 infections, of which nine were new. The death toll stood at 329, and no death was reported in the past 24 hours. Enditem
