Russia and Finland were discussing the possible launch of a high-speed train from Moscow to Helsinki. The Finnish authorities have high hopes for a new type of transport as an instrument for increasing the tourist flow in both destinations.

More than 400 thousand Russians crossed the Russian-Finnish border over the New Year's holidays. Most (43 thousand) of entries from Russia to Finland was recorded on January 3.

60 new routes will appear in Finland for travelers in the low season as a part of the project “Tourism Corridor”.

The tour operator Tui Russia has analyzed the demand for the New Year holidays and compiled a rating of tourist destinations where Russians plan to travel with their children.

Finland will begin issuing five-year Schengen visas to Russians starting February 2, 2020 in connection with the new EU visa rulebook. In addition, from February 2, applicants will be able to apply for a visa six months before the planned trip.

The Deputy Director of Russia’s Federal Tourist Agency, Sergey Korneev, has hit out at Finland’s decision to tighten up the visa application process for Russian tourists, saying the new requirements could have negative consequences for tourism to Finland.

The tour operator Russian Express announced the start of sales of New Year's five-day package tours to Finnish Lapland. The company took the blocks of seats on charters to Rovaniemi, near which is the residence of Santa Claus.

The press service of Oktyabrskaya Railway reports (branch of Russian Railways) that the passenger flow of high-speed trains Allegro from St. Petersburg to Helsinki in January-July 2019 increased by 16,6% compared to the same period last year - up to 316,3 thousand people. 

In January-June 2019, citizens of the Russian Federation made 21 212 095 trips abroad. This is 6.67% more than in the same period of the last year. Turkey became the leader of outbound tourism, Italy is growing rapidly and tourist flow to Thailand has slightly decreased.

“Finnair has resumed scheduled flights from Helsinki to Samara from May 1”, - the carrier's press service reported. The flights from Helsinki are carried out three times a week - on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays at 23:40 by Embraer-190 aircraft. From Samara departures are on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 5:00. "Samara is one of the five Russian cities to which Finnair flies and we are happy to offer our passengers direct flights that will connect the city with Helsinki and with the whole Finnair route map. The flights started on May 1, when the high season begins. Many travelers, in addition to the May holidays in this period, begin to plan their summer vacation", - says the Head of representation department of Finnair in Russia Maria Anufrieva.

Russian Railways notes the growth of passenger traffic to China and Finland. According to the company, in 2017 the number of long-distance trains on these routes increased by 23.7% (China) and 21% (Finland). In general, international transportation increased by 9.7% - up to 706.2 thousand people. Between Russia and Germany, 18.5% more passengers were transported than in 2016. Since 2016 “Strizh” Moscow-Berlin train (manufactured by the Spanish company Patentes Talgo) connected these cities. The trains are equipped with by automatic wheel-shifting system that reduces time of the transition from the Russian standard (1520 mm) to the European (1435 mm) at Brest railway station (Byelorussia). In 2017 “Strizh” transported 26.8 thousand passengers. In the schedule of train traffic for 2017/2018 the international passenger transportations (including transit) will be carried out to 11 countries of Europe and Asia (Germany, France, Finland, Italy, Poland, Czech Republic, China and others) and to the same quantity of CIS and Baltic region’s countries (Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia).

“The number of Russian tourists in southeast regions of Finland is constantly growing. It is expected that by the end of 2017 the Russians will make more than 2.6 million trips to the southeast regions of Finland, which is almost 10% more than in 2016”, - informs the portal YLE. According to the information of the portal, at present time the popularity of North Karelia (the region in Eastern Finland) is growing among Russian tourists.

Demand for Scandinavian direction in the winter season has increased. Among the Northern countries Finland is the leader of demand. According to tour operators, this winter the demand for tours to the Nordic countries rose from 30% to 70% both for the New Year's dates and for whole winter season. As TUI Russia reported, this year all group travels to Finland for the New Year has already been sold. "We can say that the demand is good.

“The Russians spent 43 thousand nights in Finnish hotels in September, taking the second place after tourists from Sweden, which is 9% more than in the same period of the last year”, - reported the statistical center of Finland. The office notes that most number of tourists, who come to Finland are from Sweden, Russia and Germany.

“Finnair will launch an additional flight from Helsinki to Moscow in the summer of 2018”, - said the press-service of the carrier. So, the number of daily flights in this direction will increase up to three. Also, Finnair plans to use Embraer aircraft for the Helsinki-St. Petersburg flights (three times a day), "which will improve the quality of the flight and increase the traffic volume by 30%". Now the transportation on this route is performed by ATR 72/42. Finnair is the national carrier of Finland, the largest airline in the country. It is based at Helsinki-Vantaa Airport. Included in Oneworld alliance.

The Consulate General of Finland in St. Petersburg issued about 300 thousand visas during this high tourist season. "From May to June 2017, we received about 300.000 visa applications. For the same period of the last year the number of accepted documents was less than 170.000", - said the source in the Consulate.

“Lux Express” bus carrier will resume full-scale operation on the route from St. Petersburg - Helsinki and back from January 14, 2017”, - said the press service of the group. "From tomorrow all the services will be carried out exclusively by buses of “Lux Express”, which are owned to a subsidiary of “Lux Express Finland OY” company.

The aviation authorities of the Russian Federation and Finland have agreed to increase the number of flight frequencies on the route Saint Petersburg - Helsinki from 14 to 21 per week for each side. “In addition, the aviation authorities of the two countries decided to hold a consultation on air traffic on 2-3 March 2017”, - according to the materials, published by the Federal Air Transport Agency on Thursday.

Consulate General of Finland in St. Petersburg has issued 360 thousand visas, which is 36% less than in 2015. Most of them are for a period of several years. This was reported to "Fontanka.fi" agency in the embassy of the country. The percentage of failures in the present time is about 0.6-0.8% of the total number of applications. According to the predictions of the Consulate General, the number of visa applications will increase in 2017 year.

“The demand for holidays in Finland for New Year's holidays among Russian tourists is higher than for tours to the other Nordic countries at this time of the year”, - according to the Association of Tour Operators of Russia (ATOR). According to ATOR the demand as a whole for tours to the northern Europe remained at the same level of the last year.

As of the end of September, the Finnish consulate in Moscow has received 23% fewer visa applications compared to the same period last year. "But the number of tourists was, of course, more, because many Russians have multiple entry visas previously issued, including a two-year.

“The tourist flow from Russia is falling three years yet, but the workload on the Finnish border guards is growing, because the reduction of staff is carry out”, - told reporters the commander of the border detachment in the southeastern part of Finland Isto Colonel Kurki on Wednesday.