China has been the biggest source of travelers to Rovaniemi, the capital of the northern province of Lapland, Finland but the COVID-19 pandemic has hit the capital hard and it is estimated that the city has lost one-third of its revenue during 2020.
According to media Ecsn.cn, Sanna Karkkainen, managing director of Visit Rovaniemi estimates that the lack of tourists from China in 2020 cost the local economy up to 50 to 70 million euros.
“Visit Rovaniemi expected a tourism revenue loss of around 200 million euros ($237 million) in 2020, with around 40 million euros from hotels and accommodation and about 160 million euros from other consumption, such as program services, transportation, shopping, and dining,” she said.
Finland has emerged as one of the top winter destinations in recent years for Chinese visitors and in 2019, more than 56,200 Chinese travelers visited Rovaniemi. Wu Zhaohong, China director for Visit Finland, said that among nationalities, Chinese tourists ranked fifth for overnight stays in Finland in 2019, and China was the biggest long-haul source market.
