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Home BUSINESSDemand for accommodation services declines 2.3% in 2014
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Sat, 02 May, 2015 12:05:14 AM
FTimes Report, May 2
 
Year-on-year changes in nights spent (%) by month 2014–2013. Source: Accommodation Statistics. Statistics Finland.
The last four months of 2013 indicated a petering out in the demand for accommodation services, and in the early part of 2014, the demand diminished slightly, deepening to a fall of 6.5 per cent in March.
 
Not even the summer season managed to turn the demand for accommodation services around, and the latter part of the year was slightly negative, except for October, when the demand grew by under one per cent, according to Statistics Finland’s data on accommodation establishments.
 
In 2014, the demand for accommodation services decreased in total by 2.3 per cent. The foreign demand for accommodation services declined by 2.6 per cent and the domestic demand by 2.1 per cent compared with the previous year.
 
Accommodation establishments in Finland recorded nearly 19.8 million overnight stays, of which domestic tourists accounted for 14.1 million and foreign tourists for 5.7 million as per the statistics collected from accommodation establishments with at least 20 beds or caravan pitches with electricity connection, and youth hostels.
 
Despite the steep fall in the number of overnight stays, Russians were the biggest group of foreign tourists in Finnish accommodation establishments in 2014.
 
Altogether, 1.3 million overnight stays were recorded for Russians, which was 17.3 per cent down on the year before.
 
Change in overnight stays 2014 / 2013, %. Source: Accommodation Statistics. Statistics Finland.
Nevertheless, Russian visitors accounted for good 23 per cent of all overnight stays by foreign visitors. Swedish, German and British visitors came next.
 
For Swedes and Germans, the number of overnight stays was good one-third of the overnight stays by Russians, or 0.5 million overnight stays for both.
 
Overnight stays by Swedish visitors increased by nearly one per cent and those by Germans remained on level with the previous year.
 
Overnight stays by British tourists in Finnish accommodation establishments made a slight downturn and nearly 450,000 overnight stays were recorded for them, which was 1.7 per cent down on 2013.
 
Overnight stays by French tourists numbered 215,000, which was almost the same as in 2013. Overnight stays by visitors from the United States and Estonia both increased to around 200,000.
 
Overnight stays by visitors from the United States grew by 9.0 per cent and the biggest growth percentage was recorded for them in 2014 among the most important countries of inbound tourism into Finland.
 
Hotel room occupancy rate and the monthly average price. Source: Accommodation Statistics. Statistics Finland.
Overnight stays by Estonian tourists increased by 4.8 per cent from the previous year.
 
In contrast, overnight stays by Japanese tourists made a downturn in summer 2014 and 192,000 overnight stays were recorded for them, which was 6.8 per cent fewer than in 2013.
 
Examined by continent, the biggest growth percentages came from Oceania, where Australia boosted overnight stays to a growth of over nine per cent, the number of overnight stays amounting to just 62,000, and from America, where growth amounted to 8.3 per cent.
 
The number of overnight stays by visitors from EU countries and Nordic countries was two per cent up on 2013. All in all, nearly 2.8 million overnight stays were recorded for tourists from EU countries. Among the largest EU countries, inbound tourism increased by seven to eight per cent from Italy and Spain in 2014.
 
The number of overnight stays recorded from the Nordic countries was 814,000.
 
Change in overnight stays by region 2014/2013,%. Source: Accommodation Statistics. Statistics Finland.
In 2014, the total number of nights spent in hotels was 15.7 million, which was 2.2 per cent lower than in 2013.
 
Recorded nights spent by resident tourists in hotels numbered 10.9 million and by foreign tourists 4.7 million.  
 
The average price of a hotel room has been growing since 2011, when the average price was EUR 88, the data show.
  
In 2014, overnight stays increased in only a few of the regions. The number of overnight stays in both Kanta-Häme and North Ostrobothnia grew by three per cent. In Kanta-Häme, the capacity of accommodation establishments also grew somewhat, while in North Ostrobothnia the capacity diminished.
 
Uusimaa and Central Ostrobothnia increased the number of overnight stays by one per cent. In all other regions, the numbers of overnight stays went down last year.
 
The biggest drop in overnight stays, 10.9 per cent, was recorded in the region of South Karelia, where the capacity of accommodation establishments grew somewhat.
 
Nights spent by non-residents in Europe (2004 = 100). Source: Accommodation Statistics. Statistics Finland.
Overnight stays in Satakunta diminished by 7.1 per cent and decreases of six per cent were recorded in both Pirkanmaa and Etelä-Savo.
 
The slight decline in overnight stays by domestic visitors in Finland, which started in 2013, steepened to 2.1 per cent in 2014.
 
In the rest of Europe, overnight stays by domestic tourists, in turn, remained on level with the previous year, growing by 0.6 per cent.
 
However, a growth of 2.9 per cent was recorded in domestic overnight stays in the Nordic and Baltic countries.
 
Domestic overnight stays in Central Europe have been more or less on the same level for the last three years.
 
Southern Europe still has not recovered from the steep drop in overnight stays by domestic tourists in 2012 (-6.5 per cent).
 
The information on overnight stays in other European countries is based on monthly data on the use of capacity at European accommodation establishments collected by Eurostat.
 
In 2014, Statistics Finland’s register of accommodation establishments has been updated with new and closed establishments and the industry data of accommodation establishments have been revised. The number of accommodation establishments contained in the statistics went down by 35 in 2014.
 
In 2014, the statistics covered a total of 1,408 accommodation establishments; 655 hotels, 130 guest houses, 335 holiday villages, 243 camping sites and 45 youth hostels.  
There were 1,074 accommodation establishments that were open year round and 334 establishments that were open part of the year. 
 
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