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How EU membership - and the euro - affected Finnish tourism

How EU membership - and the euro - affected Finnish tourism. Jaakko Lehtonen, Director General, Visit Finland 16.10.2008. In general, the impact of external factors can be divided into a) boosting b)preventing circumstances. Never heard of Finland?. Finland was part of Sweden till 1809

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How EU membership - and the euro - affected Finnish tourism

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  1. How EU membership - and the euro - affected Finnish tourism Jaakko Lehtonen, Director General, Visit Finland 16.10.2008

  2. In general, the impact of external factors can be divided into a) boosting b)preventing circumstances

  3. Never heard of Finland? • Finland was part of Sweden till 1809 • part of Russia till 1917 • independent since then • a relatively unknown country • EU membership increases the general awareness of a country somewhat • schools • EU– related media highlights • EU presidency • no very significant impact

  4. research done in seven European countries in 2003 among consumers reveals that touristic Finland is perceived as • dark • snow • nature • cold • Santa Claus • ferries to Sweden • sauna • lots of alcohol • no idea (in all 7 countries this was among the 10 most common answers) • note: Finland became EU member 1.1.1995

  5. in a recent study done in 20 countries, 20 000 interviews, about Finland’s country image among 50 countries (The Anholt-Gfk Roper Nation Brands’ Index) • overall score 18 (Iceland 23) • governance 11 (Iceland 19) • culture 27 (Iceland 38) • people 18 (Iceland 22) • tourism 27 (Iceland 32) • immigration 18 (Iceland 21) • oftentimes Ireland and Iceland were next to each other

  6. Sweden, Norway and Denmark scored better than Finland and Iceland in all areas • a country that is relatively unknown and uninteresting has a hard time to attract tourists and investments • low image and low profile (on global level) problems both for Finland and for Iceland in tourism • EU - membership does not seem to have benefited Finland a lot in the area of awareness nor image (Norway is not an EU – country, either)

  7. Legal restrictions lifted and laws harmonized • visa requirements eliminated due to the Schengen Treaty • were removed earlier between the Nordic Countries – also passports • Visa issue now an EU – issue, Finland has no bilateral agreements in this regard • Schengen applied in full by 13 countries (Holland, Belgium, Spain, Italy, Austria, Greece, Luxembourg, Portugal, France, Sweden, Germany, Finland and Denmark, and out of non-EU – countries Norway and Iceland) • ten countries apply in part and will apply later in full (Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Czech Republic, Hungary and Estonia) • UK and Ireland do not follow Schengen albeit they belong to the EU • Switzerland has decided to join Schengen within the next few years • Schengen has made intra-european travelling easier, but in general the impact of Schengen is limited • more importance for non-schengen countries when only one visa is needed for a round-trip in Europe

  8. many laws are (or at least should) be harmonized within the member countries • such as product liability, VAT (on food and alcohol and restaurants) and other taxes, rules on TOs and group travel etc etc • in Finland those laws were not very prohibitive before the EU  no change of any relevance so far

  9. Joint currency • not all EU – countries have taken euro in use • outside are e.g. Sweden, Denmark and UK • euro simplifies price comparisons – no complicated conversion calculations • increases competition a bit -> may lead to improved efficiencies • makes travelling a little easier as the tourist need not bother to change cash (credit cards are used a lot, however) • in principle, stabilizes interest rates within the euro area • in principle, gives more certainty to the working environment as exchange rate fluctuations are eliminated within the euro area

  10. EU Propaganda and Funds • lots of positive talk about the importance of travelling in EU • declarations, statements, working groups etc etc • limited relevance • significant amounts of EU – money available for tourism • on state level usually for cross-border projects • bureaucratic • newly joined countries somewhat better off • inside the EU – countries, a multitude of different types of EU – funding available • thousands of projects implemented in Finland after the EU – membership started • product development, training etc • success varies a lot – some have been very good but some not • most often too small and too specific

  11. Actual development • well over 80 per cent of European travelling is intra-European • the number of European overnights in Finland has decreased during the EU – membership, albeit the total number of overnights has increased significantly • non-EU overnights have grown faster than EU overnights with Russia being one of the major factors.

  12. in summary, the membership in the EU has not had any significant positive impact on inbound travelling to Finland Thank you for your attention!

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