Many Russian tourists now appearing to be travelling to Estonia rather than Finland, according to research and analysis centre TAK.
TAK says that Russians seem to be choosing Estonia over Finland because of lower prices and improved travel connections. It estimates that there was an increase of nine per cent in the number of Russians travelling to Finland last year; however, in the preceding two years that figure was at 30 per cent.
The think tank’s project manager Taneli Dobrowski claimed that the falloff in visitors travelling from Russia is down to the economic climate, and said it was “not alarming”. He explained that as Russia is experiencing “economically uncertain times”, people seem to be opting for cheaper destinations.
Dobrowski went on to say that because of this many people are choosing Estonia over Finland. He noted that, apart from the economical factor, transport links between Russia and Estonia have improved dramatically over recent years. Another possible benefit, claimed the researcher, was that Russians may also be drawn to the Baltic nation because of shorter queues at border crossings.