A pioneer in compiling statistics for the meetings and congress markets, the Finland Convention Bureau (FCB) has commissioned a pilot study of incentive travel to Finland. The goal of the research is to ascertain the volume, destinations and economic impact of incentive travel in Finland, as well as the source countries for incentive travellers. The study is being carried out by Finnish market research company Taloustutkimus Oy.

The research material has been gathered from questionnaires circulated among 100 incentive market professionals. The study will be completed at the end of June and the results published in the autumn.

Since the beginning of 2006, the FCB has worked in co-operation with the Finnish Tourist Board (MEK) to promote Finland as a destination for incentive travel. The new research is one of the new projects co-ordinated by the FCB to market incentive travel in Finland.

Over EUR 86 million generated from association meetings

The FCB anticipates that 2006 will be a record year for the meetings market in Finland. In addition to international association meetings, the Finnish EU Presidency that begins in July will bring approximately 130 meetings and 20,000 delegates to over 20 locations throughout the country.

According to preliminary information, the FCB expects international association meetings to attract around 60,000 delegates to Finland this year. Around 336,000 overnight stays will be generated by these visits. The economic impact of congresses is expected to increase to approximately EUR 86.4 million euros.

Finland attracted 6.6 million delegates in 2005

According to annual research of the meetings market commissioned by the FCB from Taloustutkimus Oy, a total of 148,000 international and domestic meetings were held in Finland in 2005. Approximately 6.6 million delegates participated in these meetings.

Participants in international meetings represented 4.9 percent of the total. The share of international meetings declined slightly from the previous year, when they represented 6.8 percent of the total.