Sustainable tourism up North kicks of the travel trade year
The total visitor count of Matka Nordic Travel Fair 2020 grew significantly compared to the year before. (photo: Messukeskus media bank)
Responsible travel is on the top of the Finnish travel industry’s agenda with many current initiatives actively challenging the travel industry and travelers to make change. When international media were invited to the annual Matka Nordic Travel Fair in January 2020 the sustainable actions was the main theme of the week.
Finland is a rapidly growing travel destination in Northern Europe – for leisure travelers and business travelers alike. In recent years, Finland has consistently ranked among the top 20 congress destinations in the world. Furthermore, the number of nights spent in Helsinki has been at record levels for each of the past 12 months (2019).
In January 2020, Finnfacts/Business Finland and Messukeskus Helsinki, Expo and Convention Centre invited a group of 12 travel trade journalists from Europe and Asia to check out the current trends in Helsinki and join the buzz at the annual Matka Nordic Travel Fair.
This year, sustainability was on top of the agenda as the national goal is to become the leading country of sustainable travel by 2025. The media tour program was therefore soaked in current initiatives such as Visit Finland's Sustainable Travel Finland Label and the city of Helsinki's new Think Sustainably service.
Responsible travel was also the main theme of the Matka fair, which launched the first edition of the Sustainable Travel Competition challenging companies in the travel industry to make responsible solutions more common with sustainable travel products and services.
Matka is the largest travel industry event in Northern Europe offering an impressive start of the travel year and a unique opportunity to get acquainted with Finland and the whole world under one roof. This year the event gathered 68 300 visitors in total.
During the press tour the media were taken to the fair and beyond to check out the most interesting picks of the booming travel scene in the capital region including a selection of the around 30 hotels that are planned to open their doors in the coming years. The program also took the journalists to check both the unique urban culture in Helsinki and to the nearby national park to experience a touch of what makes us the happiest country in the world.
Keep an eye on this page where we will be listing the international media hits resulting from the tour!
UK
Travel bulletin, February 7th 2020
Spain
Esthonia
Eesti Ekspress, February 12th 2020
United Arab Emirates
Hotelier Middle East, January 4th 2020
Hotelier Middle East, February 19th 2020: "Sustainability" (print article)
Japan
Travel News AT, February 11th 2020: ヘルシンキ訪問① 北欧最大の旅行博―MATKAを取材
Travel News AT, February 11th 2020: ヘルシンキ訪問② 日本から10時間、一番近いヨーロッパへ
Travel News AT, February 11th 2020: ヘルシンキ訪問③ 長く暗い冬があっても「世界一幸せな国」
Switzerland
Travel Inside, January 30th 2020: "Matka Nordic Travel Fair 2020: Nachhaltigkeit, Innovation und Trends" (print article)
Norway
Be Great – Hotels, Food & Wine, 2020: "St. George - Finlands kanskje beste hotell" (print article)
Be Great – Spa & Health, 2020: "St George Care, klassisk moderne spa" (print article)
Russia
TTG Russia, March 2020: "«Банный день» в Хельсинки" (print article)
