Tag Archives: VisitFinland

Finland witnessed a 15 per cent growth in Indian arrivals in 2018 and over 80,000 overnights, informed Jukka Holappa, Commercial Counsellor, Country Head—India and Sri Lanka, Business Finland, at VisitFinland and India Workshop 2019 held in Delhi on February 25. Speaking at the event, he said, “The numbers from India have been growing. At our roadshows in Delhi and Mumbai, we have 10 partners from Finland and are looking at a participation of about 70-80 agents in each city. Indians usually like to explore more countries in one single visit, often going to Russia and Estonia; we are hoping to get them to stay longer in Finland.” Holappa claims that the they are committed to support, educate and grow the business for their travel partners. “It’s our role to educate the travel agents on Finland but the Indian travel trade needs to educate us to manage Indian travellers as well,” he concluded. He also informed that Lapland is very popular with Indians as they love to see the Northern Lights.

Having witnessed a robust growth of 42 per cent in tourist arrivals and overnights from the Indian market in 2017, VisitFinland has reinstated their focus in the India market through the appointment of Sara Sodhi Juneja based in New Delhi to head VisitFinland activities in India. Dr. Jukka Holappa, Trade Commissioner for Business Finland India, shared, “Sara brings a wealth of her hospitality and tourism experience to this important strategic role and we are delighted to welcome her to head VisitFinland in India. Aligning with the growing potential of India market and our global expansion strategy, VisitFinland has decided to foray again into the Indian market”. Juneja shared, “My role will focus on developing our strategy devised for the Indian market and strengthening relationships with the travel trade to increase visitation and length of stay by Indians in Finland. In parallel, we will also work in close collaboration with the Indian media as communication is an integral part of our strategy. The key focus for 2018 is to encourage the Indian travel trade to increase their knowledge of Finland. For the same, we will organise roadshows and Fam trips throughout the year to give the Indian travel trade and media a first-hand experience of the destination.”