Due to the large loss of Russian tourists, Finland's tourism industry is predicted to recover more slowly than other Nordic nations, according to Kristiina Hietasari, director of Visit Finland, the country's official tourism promotion agency, on Tuesday.

According to her, Finland might not regain its pre-pandemic levels of incoming tourism until 2024 or 2025.

By concentrating its marketing efforts in Western Europe and North America, Finland is attempting to make up for the loss of visitors from Russia and Asia, according to Hietasaari. The competition in these areas is tougher for the nation.

According to Hietasaari, air service to Finland has not yet reached the levels seen in 2019. "Finnair's financial situation is difficult, and other airlines have mostly concentrated on other links. It's doubtful that aviation travel will ever return to its pre-recession level in full.

The tourism sector in Finland has benefited from the current heatwave that is affecting Southern Europe. The number of reservations from Italy has recently increased by 40%. Spain and France are also doing well. Although Germany continues to be Finland's biggest supplier of tourists, she added that Germans who are interested in Finland also show interest in many other nations.

Visit Finland claims that COVID-19 has cost Finland losses of 12 billion euros (or 12.9 billion US dollars), and the ongoing conflict in Ukraine has cost Finland 1.2 billion euros annually. Prior to 2019, 12 percent of overnight visitors from Russia and 17 percent from Asia were from Finland.

On Tuesday, Visit Finland unveiled a new system for tracking traveler profiles, expenditure, volume, and the carbon footprint of their trips to and within Finland.

607,000 trips by foreign visitors to Finland cost 512 million euros between March and April. When traveling to and from Finland, the average carbon footprint was 480 kilograms of CO2.

Due to its remote position and strong reliance on air travel, Liisa Kokkarinen, head of sustainable development at Visit Finland, acknowledged the difficulties Finland confronts in terms of sustainable travel. She emphasized the importance of creating rail and marine connections for sustainable travel, particularly since the nation no longer has an international rail connection through Russia as a result of the current situation in the world. 1 euro is equal to 1.08 dollars.