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Home BUSINESSNordic Travel Fair begins in Helsinki
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Fri, 16 Jan, 2015 03:49:50 AM
FTimes Report, Jan 16
 
Turkish stall in the fair. Photo Lehtikuva.
The MATKA Nordic Travel Fair 2015 has begun at the Expo & Convention Centre in Helsinki on Thursday with the view to bring the whole world to meet the Finnish travel industry.
 
Minister for European Affairs and Foreign Trade Lenita Toivakka inaugurated the fair where more than 80 countries are taking part, according to an official press release.
 
“Travel is important for Finland’s economy. Consumption for travel in Finland totalled 13.3 billion euros in 2013. Foreign countries accounted for 4.3 billion euros of this sum. In percentage, the amount corresponds to about 8 per cent of Finland’s total export of goods,” said the minister in her opening remarks.
 
Travel also has a major impact on employment. The travel industry gives full-time or part-time work to an estimated 140,000 people. 
 
Egypt Stall in the Fair. Photo Lehtikuva.
It is gratifying, in particular, that these figures include many young people. In all, 27,000 enterprises are involved in the travel industry, the minister said.
 
“Naturally, the international situation affects travel as well. The decrease in Russian tourists can be seen on the streets, especially in Eastern Finland. Closer inspection of the figures on travel indicates, however, that Finland interests people also in new areas,” she remarked, adding, “ever more tourists both from Europe and, for instance, from China make their way to Finland.”
 
“At the same time, as we attract foreign tourists to Finland, Finns travel abroad actively. Finns make approximately 10 million trips abroad per year,” she said. According to the minister, despite the economic downturn, the number of trips abroad has grown steadily in recent years.
 
At the travel fair, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs campaigns for travel safety with the help of the three Ts: the Travel bulletin, the Travel notification and Travel insurance. 
The fair is scheduled to end on January 18.
 
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