Helsinki now most popular congress city in the Nordic countries

Helsinki hosted a record number of international congresses and meetings last year, said the City of Helsinki in a bulletin.

The number was increased by EU presidency meetings and events connected to the official programme. Helsinki’s popularity has grown significantly over the past five years. According to the latest international survey, Helsinki has become the most popular congress city in the Nordic countries, ahead of Stockholm, Oslo, and Copenhagen.

Finland and Helsinki are recognised worldwide as pioneers in sustainable development and this responsibility is now appealing also to international congress and event organisers. Helsinki Marketing, together with the Woltti Group, has developed concrete guidelines to help organise responsible B2B events.

According to the latest statistics from the Finland Convention Bureau, a record number of congresses were held in Finland in 2019. A total of 835 international association meetings were held across the country and they were attended by a record 136,413 delegates.

Helsinki hosted 395 or nearly half of these meetings and they were attended by 84,144 delegates, or approximately 62 per cent of the total number of congress visitors in Finland. By comparison, Helsinki hosted 275 congresses in 2015 with 35,235 delegates.

“Helsinki’s appeal as a congress city has grown significantly over the past five years. Helsinki has gained a reputation for being a reliable city that is close to nature and where everything works smoothly. This explains why Helsinki has now become the most popular congress city in the Nordic countries, ahead of Stockholm, Oslo and Copenhagen,” said Helsinki Marketing Global Sales Director Leena Lassila.

Helsinki hosts the majority of international congresses organised in Finland each year. The figures for last year were further boosted by Finland’s EU Presidency. A total of 131 meetings or conferences on the official EU Presidency calendar were held in Finland. In addition to these, a total of 115 stakeholder meetings and conferences at different levels were held within the context of the EU Presidency.

The figures published by the Finland Convention Bureau include the 115 stakeholder conferences held in Helsinki. Official EU meetings are not included in the total number of congresses, however, as they are considered intergovernmental meetings and not association meetings.

In addition to EU meetings and international association meetings, numerous international business meetings were held in Helsinki last year. Although official statistics are not available, the number of meetings is known to be growing internationally and the market is huge. This is reflected in the exceptionally high occupancy rate of hotels in Helsinki.

“Helsinki is now focusing on growing conference tourism. The greatest interest in Helsinki is coming from Great Britain, where many agents seeking venues for international meetings are located,” said Lassila.