Proposals for programme items for Helsinki’s year-long World Design Capital (WDC) 2012 event are now under review following the deadline, last month, for the first phase. The organiser, International Design Foundation, is sifting through thousands of projects while the second phase will take place this autumn.
The event is expected to raise Helsinki’s and Finland’s profile on the world tourism stage and comes on the back of an already strengthening industry. According to the Helsinki City Tourist & Convention Bureau, 2010 is set to beat the previous record year in 2008 for the number of overnight stays ‑ once the data is all in. In YTD September, these stays were up by 9% with record growth in all months except January. For foreign visitors the overnight stays increased by 5%. This compares with overnight stays across Finland rising by an average of +3%.
Russians have become a key tourism driver for the city where foreigners account for 55% of overnight stays. WDC Helsinki 2012 is expected to build further momentum and is one reason why Helsinki Airport was among the first batch of corporate partners to sign up.
Finavia Senior Vice President and Marketing Director Kimmo Ruotsalainen says: “Helsinki Airport is Northern Europe’s leading transfer airport for traffic between Europe and Asia (and it) has a long tradition in showcasing Finnish design.” Last year the airport strengthened its Asian connections with a total of 1.42 million passengers (+6.1%) on Asian routes. The most important destination countries in Asia were Japan (381,700 passengers), Thailand (332,400) and China (307,700). The number of passengers for Seoul increased the most (+44.7%) but from a lower base.
