I’m here to open up discussion about Finnish customs in tourism and hospitality context from my point of view. To understand deeply the customs in finnish tourism and hospitality, it’s good to remember the country is young in this industry and has lot of room to improve. 

 

In general the tourism industry in Finland have been devoloping a lot. If we go back for example 30 years from now. Finland didn’t have lot of service type of jobs which was specifically made for tourism industry and how to treat domestic or abroad tourists. So in Finland learning how to treat tourists, how to get them visit more Finnish sights are still in baby steps. Customs in general are in good shapes, in face to face contacts Finns are open minded, they like to show a lot what different kinds of things they have in their culture. That’s good place to start developing. Also infrastructure in transporting tourist throughout nationwide are in decent prices and safety is in good level. Low crime rates makes it easy to visit, and loads of nature surrounding whole country makes it wonderful getaway country from packed abroad countries. 

Main problem is not about customs. Finns get lot of positive feedback worldwide through media and luxury tourists for example famous and well known people in power worldwide. It’s still hidden gem for lot of regular tourists. Problems might be now knowing how to appreciate peaceful environment, not having loads of opportunities to really find the way how finns live in their country. For example summer cottage feeling is hard to sell because it’s partly in finns mind but it’s hard to sell tourist what they cannot experience easily and in bargain prices. But there has been lot of growth how to sell these things, and I think abroad things like 'Air Bnb' gives lot of room to visit Finland summer cottages individually. To point out few how Finns have sold their experiences. There are in Helsinki lot of public saunas. They are well placed near attractions, close to very central of Helsinki and are in really good shape. There are free sauna of Sompasauna which has got lot of attention from tourists, then there is bit more luxury one’s like Löyly and Allas sea pool. All of these experiences have got lot of positive feedback. So Finns are going right direction on how to sell their country for tourists. Customs and values are right, products are still hard to find. 

Next step is not about values or customs. It’s about how to show world what we feel inside about our life in Finland and how much we appreciate it. What are our key parts having fun, how we visit nature as a country, how do we relax, what kind of different activities we do to spent time here and what kind of food culture we also have. When we can sum this up, I think Finland will have lot of keys to attract more tourists and enjoy more having time with them. Because it’s not about values and customs anymore, it’s how we spend time with them in future.