Overview 

Prior to COVID-19 travel and tourism was traditionally a best prospect industry sector in Finland. However, since spring of 2020 the sector was severely impacted by COVID-19. Visitor arrivals from Finland to the United States in January and February 2020 were on par with arrivals in 2019. But in March 2020 arrivals dropped and since then, arrivals have remained at lower levels. Please read CBP’s COVID-19 updates for travelers. For the latest information on DHS’s response efforts, visit DHS.gov/coronavirus. For the latest health information, visit CDC.gov. 

The United States has traditionally been one of the main long-haul destinations for Finns with close to 150,000 Finnish arrivals in 2019. The number of arrivals has been quite stable over several years. Florida, New York, and California continue to be the best prospects for the U.S. travel industry. Finns find it easy to adapt to the American culture and are open to exploring new destinations and themes to travel to the United States. Although Finns generally favor “sun and sand” and city destinations, a growing number of travelers are interested in new destinations and looking for activity holidays. Individual travel packages including various activities such as local culture, nature, and sports are gaining interest. The Government of Finland imposes no restrictions on foreign travel for its citizens. Since October 1, 1991, Finland has been included in the U.S. Government’s Visa Waiver Program (VWP), allowing Finns to travel to the United States for tourism, business, or while in transit for up to 90 days without having to obtain a visa. Finnish passports have been machine-readable since 1987, and biometric passports were introduced in August 2006. 

With an average of five weeks of annual leave, Finns take several holidays a year. Finns usually book their travel well in advance and take time to plan their holidays. Long-haul destinations are popular, and, with good English and other language skills, Finns are quite experienced travelers.  Finnair, the national airline, offers seasonal direct flights from Helsinki-Vantaa airport to Chicago, Miami, Los Angeles, San Francisco and around-the-year flights to New York City (JFK). In 2022, Finnair launched two new seasonal flights to Dallas and Seattle. Other airlines offering connecting flights to the United States with their alliance partner networks included Icelandair, Lufthansa, Air France-KLM, and Scandinavian Airlines (SAS). With the advent of COVID-19, see airline websites for the latest on flights to the United States. 

Leading Sub-Sectors 

The popularity of the United States as a travel destination for Finland is based on the large variety of activities the nation offers. The east coast receives the largest volume of travelers from Finland, and, in addition to New York, Washington, DC and Boston are of increasing popularity. Finnish travelers find it easy to combine various attractions and activities – beach holidays, city tours, theme parks, culture, shopping, nature, road trips, etc. – into a single trip. First-time travelers, families with children, and senior citizens favor Florida attractions and beach holidays, whereas younger people and experienced travelers favor the West Coast – San Francisco, Los Angeles, and San Diego. For Finnish business travelers, New York City, Chicago, Boston, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and Atlanta are the most common destinations. 

Opportunities 

Discover America Finland is a membership-based marketing collective and network consisting of airlines, car rental companies, cruise lines, hotels, tour operators, visitors & convention bureaus, and other organizations, promoting travel to the United States. 

The annual Matka Nordic Travel Fair is the largest travel fair in Northern Europe bringing together travel trade professionals, destinations, and other tourism organizations. US pavilion is usually well represented each year at this travel fair. 

Information 

Interested parties may contact Senior Commercial Specialist Mia Maki, mia.maki@trade.gov