Responsible experiences and family travel will be the overarching themes of the Matka Nordic Travel Fair in the upcoming winter.
The Matka Nordic Travel Fair, the largest travel fair in Northern Europe, has confirmed that Estonia will be its next partner country. For the rest of the year, Estonian themes will be highlighted in the fair’s newsletter and social media channels. In January, Estonia will feature prominently in the fair’s stage programme and exhibition area, to enable tourism professionals and fair visitors to get to know more about the new attractions and options for activities and accommodation available. The Matka Nordic Travel Fair will be held at Messukeskus in Helsinki from 16 to 19 January 2020.
“The selection of Estonia as the Matka Nordic Travel Fair’s partner country is happy news for us. It is also logical, considering that environmental awareness and responsible tourism are gaining ground,” says Margus Sameli, the director of the Estonian Tourist Board. “Even though it is easier and cheaper than ever before to travel to exotic destinations, tourists who prefer short-haul travel are among the most important consumer groups in the tourism industry.”
“Estonia is a familiar country to many Matka Nordic Travel Fair visitors, and it is often perceived as being a quick shopping and leisure destination. By giving Estonia broad visibility at the fair, we believe that visitors will see the country through fresh eyes, as an even more diverse tourist destination. We are happy to be able to offer our Estonian exhibitors an opportunity to meet potential tourists at the fair”, says the sales group manager at the Matka Nordic Travel Fair, Anna Suominen.
According to a survey commissioned by Suomen matkailuorganisaatioiden yhdistys Suoma (Association of Tourism Organisations in Finland), 74% of Finns plan to travel in Finland this summer. Of young adults aged 25–34, as many as one third consider domestic tourism to be an important trend, specifically because of its low impact on climate.
According to Margus Sameli, this is something that strengthens Estonia’s position in the tourism market. “The people who repeatedly visit Estonia are an important target group for us. Keeping these people loyal is best done when they perceive the Estonian offering of attractions and events to be almost as easily accessible as being in Finland. This is already the case, at least for residents in the Greater Helsinki area, for whom even southern Estonia is closer, by road or rail from Tallinn, than, for example, the Finnish cities of Kuopio, Joensuu or Vaasa”, Sameli adds.
Responsible experiences and family travel will be the overarching themes of the Matka Nordic Travel Fair in the upcoming winter. These are familiar topics to the dozens of Estonian tourism organisations and companies that participate in the fair as exhibitors. As a partner country, Estonia is hoping to inspire Finns to visit one Estonian town, museum, restaurant, event, or children’s adventure park that they have not been to before, or to get one friend or acquaintance who has not previously visited Estonia to join them and do so now.
Vicky is the co-founder of TravelDailyNews Media Network where she is the Editor-in Chief. She is also responsible for the daily operation and the financial policy. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Tourism Business Administration from the Technical University of Athens and a Master in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Wales.
She has many years of both academic and industrial experience within the travel industry. She has written/edited numerous articles in various tourism magazines.
