UK market report

Updated May 2026

Finland's position in the market

The UK views Finland as an efficiently run, secure, and environmentally conscious nation. While many British individuals perceive Finland as a chilly and costly Nordic destination, it is renowned for its association with Santa Claus and its dreamy winter landscapes, including the captivating Northern Lights. Finnish Lapland is continually enhancing its appeal and solidifying its status as the preferred choice for Nordic winter holidays.

The United Kingdom is Europe’s 2nd largest intra-European source market, and it will keep the importance also over the next decade. British travel to Finland is projected to grow 41% in overnights by 2034, with expenditures up 57%. Finland’s share of Brits’ European travel (currently 0.5%) is expected to rise slightly – meaning Finland stands to capture a bigger slice of Britain’s large outbound market.

British visits are highly seasonal – peak winter (Dec–Feb) accounts for the largest share of nights (UK is the #1 winter source market for Finland), but summer travel is now surging as well and in the high summer season 2025 the British overnights to Finland grew a noteworthy 26% YoY (111,000 nights). Finland achieved record British overnight stays also in winter 2025–26 (404,40 nights +6% YoY). December 2025 alone was 40% of UK annual nights, reflecting Finland’s huge appeal for Lapland winter holidays, but the season is extending.

The UK ranks as the second largest market for vacation/recreation travel to Finland, both in terms of trip numbers and overall expenditure. Compared to 2024, there has been a significant increase in the number of British tourists visiting Finland for holidays (+31% YoY). Similarly, the total spending by British holidaymakers has clearly grown (+30% YoY). This further emphasises the importance of the British market for Finland as a travel destination. In 2025 just under 60% of registered overnight stays by British travellers took place in the Lapland area. In addition to the rise seen in Lapland, the Helsinki region and Lakeland also experienced significant growth in British overnights.

British travel to the Nordic region is growing overall and ”coolcations” are becoming trendy also in the UK, although, Finland is not seen as the top choice for the cool summer holiday. In 2025, UK visitor numbers to Finland, Sweden, and Norway all rose, while Denmark saw a slight decline. This trend underscores Finland’s competitive advantage in key segments (winter experiences, nature), as well as the significant interest among Brits in Nordic travel generally. In Denmark, the vast majority of overnights took place in the capital area, which differs from the other Nordics’ profile, where the overnights are more scattered across the country and also in the rural area. Whereas in winter overnights Finland is the clear market leader among the Nordics, during the summer season Finland receives by far the smallest share of the British overnights.

Finland has managed to gain great visibility in UK media. The most important medias, such as The Guardian, Forbes, BBC and Times have featured Finland during 2025. Thanks to the successful Helsinki Happiness Hacks campaign, Finland has been featured multiple times in varied TV channels in UK. The vast majority of Visit Finland’s PR activities are targeted for increasing Finland’s awareness as a year around destination with a special emphasis on summer months. Finland’s ranking as the happiest country in the world remains as the single most interesting topic for the UK media, followed by themes such as outdoors, wellbeing and culture. The UK’s Celebrity Apprentice TV special featuring Lapland was aired in December 2025. In addition to travel media, Finland’s president Alexander Stubb’s meeting with King Charles has gained great, positive visibility for Finland further enhancing the positive image of Finland and the overall awareness of the country.

Consumer trends and behavior

Despite the economic pressures and geopolitical uncertainties, the travel industry has shown remarkable resilience and is expected to experience robust demand in 2026. Global leisure travel intentions for the start of 2026 remain strong, according to the latest Deloitte Consumer Signals research, with nearly all major categories seeing slight improvements compared with the same period a year ago. Net spending intent has strengthened across the sector, particularly around airlines, with more travellers planning to spend more on full service carriers, convenient itineraries and seat upgrades. Despite the economic headwinds, consumers treat holidays as essential.

The current war in Iran has impacted the British consumers’ booking patterns, and the usual popular mediterranian summer holiday destinations Greece, Turkey and Cyprus as well as long-haul destinations with flights close to crisis area, have experienced a notable decrease in booking volumes and surge in cancellations. The war is projected to increase the intra-European travel, especially to destinations, that are considered ”safe” and further from the crisis area. This might pose as an opportunity to Finland as well. Another turmoil caused by the war is the projected jet fuel shortage, that has already caused some flight cancellations on European routes, despite UK government reporting no immediate jet fuel supply issues. Flight companies and tour operators, such as easyJet, easyJet Holidays and Inghams have already applied ”no fuel surcharge” policies, to reassure consumers to safely book their holidays without unexpected additional expenses. Despite the measures taken, consumers remain wary, and the bookings are made with very short notice and last minute cancellations can be expected.

When it comes to booking methods, UK travellers rely on a mix of modern technology and traditional options. Although the direct bookings and use of OTA-channels remain the most important booking method, the use of travel agencies has grown significantly in the past years. Barclays reported that the travel agents saw the largest year on year increase (+17,8%) in total transactions of any of the sectors monitored in 2024 and in May 2025 bookings made through tarvel agents were up by 11% YoY. ABTA’s latest Holiday Habits report showed similar results: the number of bookings made through travel professionals increased by 38% in 2024. Due to the increased use of travel agencies 2025 has been quoted as” The Year of The Travel Agent” and the similar trend is expected to continue, as the consumers are continuously seeking for more unique, complex and exclusive travel experiences in increasingly complicated and uncertain world.

Europe remains as the most popular destination for the British outbound travel, with traditional sun and beach holidays in destinations such as Spain, France and Italy as well as city-breaks leading the way. However, the rising temperatures has its impact on British travel behaviour and Brits also are now pondering about choosing a cooler destination. 2024 demonstrations against overtourism in many of the Brits’ favourite Mediterranean destinations has left its mark and especially the families with young children are more and more often planning their travel outside of the peak seasons, to avoid the crowds, heat and possible restlessness in the destinations. In 2025 several media outlets featured stories of Mediterranean becoming too hot and introduced ”coolcations” i.e. travel to Nordic or Baltic countries as an option for the traditional Mediterranean holidays.

Sustainability plays still an important role, when choosing individual services within destination or assessing the means of travel, but it is no longer considered as a buzzword or a novelty, but somewhat mandatory. The most sustainably conscious Brits choose to travel domestically, and staycations remain popular.

Luxury travel continues to grow in popularity, especially among the younger generations, Gen-Z and Millennials. All-inclusive and package holidays are in demand. BBC 2025 listing of travel trends are promising for Finland and the Nordics, as four out of the seven trends listed are very well in line with our USPs. These trends are noctourism (nighttime travel experiences, from late-opening museums to bioluminescent beaches to northern lights watching), calmcations (holidays purely focused on creating a sense of tranquillity), off-the-beaten track travel (choosing lesser-known destinations to avoid overly crowded areas), and coolcation and off the season safaris. Additionally, Nostalgia travel is listed as a rising trend, which we can already see in Finland to some extent, when Millennial parents want to show their small children the magic of Lapland or the Moomin world.

Industry update and distribution channels

Most UK travel companies are flourishing thanks to the surge in outbound travel within the UK over the last years. UK companies have had to adapt their businesses to accommodate the change in booking patterns and trends. Companies are investing more in online booking and digital communication, and more and more companies are trialling AI-applications in their content creation and itinerary planning efforts. Current war in Iran is keeping the tour operators busy, with consumers changing their travel plans and cancelling very last minute.

Travel agents are providing valuable services that online booking cannot, such as detailed advice, navigating complex travel itineraries, and acting as a safety net when issues arise. This is driving more customers, including younger tech-savvy travellers, to use travel agents.

Booking.com, Expedia, eDreams and Last Minute are major OTAs in the UK. TripAdvisor, Skyscanner and Travel Supermarket are the top aggregator sites.

Key TOs that are operating in Finland are TUI (including TUI Crystal Ski, and TUI Tours), and Hotelplan (Inghams, Santa’s Lapland brands). Canterbury Travels and Destinology, (both part of Brooklyn Travel group), Artisan Travel Company with brands (Aurora Zone, Activities Abroad), Transun. These companies are currently especially focused on Christmas and winter holidays.

Other key companies currently selling Finland holidays include Magic of Lapland, Best Served Scandinavia, (Wexas), Discover the World, Arctic Direct, Magnetic North Holidays, ITC Regent Holidays, Exodus, Baltic Travel Company, Nordic Experience, Jules Verne, Trailfinders, Sunvil, Elegant Resorts, Abercrombie and Kent and Audley Travel.

In early 2025, German travel group The DERTOUR Group acquired Hotelplan UK that runs Inghams and its sister ski company, Santa’s Lapland. So far, the acquisition has not caused major changes in the forementioned brands’ operations, but the business has run ”as usual” as quoted by the current owner.

ITC group is lanuched the Nordics product branch in the late 2025 with its luxury brand Inspiring Travel. The product launch includes luxury accommodation and packages mainly in Lapland region, but also in the southern Finland and year around.

TUI UK has discontinued their Arctic Lakeland Christmas packages for December 2026.
DMCs as well as direct bookings are both in use among UK travel operators. In general, the use of DMCs are more in demand when packaging less established destinations or more complex packages. Demand is especially high for those DMCs that are able to package tailor made FIT tours.

Finnair remains the largest carrier in the UK, although the number of daily flights from London Heathrow decreased from current 6 to 4 flights from November 2025 onwards. Additionally, Finnair will have 12 weekly flights direct from Manchester and a daily flight from Edinburgh, and Dublin. Norwegian flies directly between London Gatwick and Helsinki six times a week. Ryanair has significantly expanded its direct flight offering to Lapland destinations and during the upcoming winter season Rovaniemi will welcome new direct Ryanair flights from Birmingham, Bristol, Manchester and Shannon in Ireland, in addition to the already existed routes from London Stansted, Liverpool and Dublin, Ireland.

AirBaltic announced the new weekly flights from Manchester and London to Kuusamo for the winter 2026-2027, starting mid-December and ending in the late March.

Finland travel USP's

The single most important USP for Finland in the UK is Santa Claus, Finland's goodwill ambassadors, which drives most Lapland family bookings in December. Families traveling to Lapland in December to meet Santa are by far the single biggest British customer group for Finland, totalling some 40% of the overall British overnights in Finland. Other winter activities are of interest and often included in the Santa holiday package. Those include aspects such as husky- and snowmobile safaris, unique accommodations (glass igloos) and reindeer farm visits. Additionally, Finland is seen as a ski destination in the UK and the demand for ski products outside the busy December season in Lapland is on the rise. Northern lights remain as a bucket list experience and a key decision driver for Brits, but Finland alone does not own this USP as the same experience is available in destination such as Norway and Iceland.

Sauna is becoming trendy also in the UK and Finland clearly owns the Sauna in the eyes of Brits. Sauna is often incorporated as something somewhat mandatory when visiting Finland and it goes especially well together with the outdoor experiences in nature. Lakeland as a region is seeing more demand and more and more tour operators are packaging Lakeland fly and drive tours for extended summer season. Those tours often include light activities in nature, interesting local culture experiences and charming accommodation completed with the Sauna experience.

Animal watching and photographing is somewhat of a special interest among the Brits, and especially bear-watching tours in Arctic Lakeland are a popular niche in UK. Similar interest can be seen towards Saimaa ringed seals, and such safari experiences could be even more highlighted as a special unique selling point for the Saimaa region.

Helsinki is viewed as a stand-alone city break destination, but also as the gateway to the rest of Finland. Some tour operators are looking to add a Helsinki stopover to their winter Lapland products, creating Helsinki an opportunity to increase their sales during the winter months. Similarly, during the summer months Helsinki can benefit from those Brits seeking to experience regions such as Lakeland and Archipelago by offering Helsinki extensions to those tours.

There is an increased demand for outdoor nature-based and adventure travel among UK travellers and is expected to continue growing. Factors driving this trend include increased interest in active holidays, a focus on sustainability, and a diverse range of outdoor activities available. Businesses and destinations catering to this market can expect to see sturdy growth and interest from UK adventure-seeking tourists.

Luxury travel is still growing, and the key trends among UK luxury travellers, include a focus on unique, immersive, cultural, and sustainable experiences; a priority on wellness and rejuvenation; a desire for personalised and curated offerings; and a willingness to travel for longer duration. Sustainable luxury accommodations, as well as private villas and chalets in secluded locations, are highly appealing to UK luxury travellers. When targeting to this demanding clientele it is essentially important that the service level meets their standards, and a special attention needs to be paid on this. Tour operators have reported that currently Finnish supply, outside of Lapland, can often be regarded more as a “premium” rather than “luxury”.

Sustainability is no longer a buzzword but a core business imperative. Consumers are increasingly demanding sustainable travel options and investors are prioritising businesses with strong environmental, social and governance (ESG) credentials.

Future outlook and upcoming season

Due to the economical and geopolitical uncertainties, the consumers are hesitant to lock their travel plans as early as typically. It is important to remain felxible with the booking and cancellation terms and allotment release dates, to help tour operators and consumers in their booking decisions.

Tour operators such as Artisan Travel, Regent Holidays, Exodus and Discover the World have put more emphasis into the snowless season product development and new itineraries in the southern parts of Finland were launched already for the summer season 2025. Fly and drive tours combining Helsinki and Lakeland seem to drive the development for new summer product supply in the UK, and Visit Finland’s ”Chill like a Finn” campaign was well received among the tour operators, trying to sell Finland. ”The Golden Triangle” Helsinki, Tampere and Turku with its archipelago region seems to interest FITs wanting to experience Helsinki and the “second-cities” sustainably on rails year around. Summer Lapland and the Midnight Sun products spark already some interest, but the strong winter image might play against its success in the short term. Lapland for the outdoor travellers during the autumn foliage, with the chance of seeing Northern lights, seems to be more appealing to at least some of the tour operators.

Travel companies have reported that sales to Finland for the upcoming summer season look mainly promising, although, the demand for Finland as a summer travel destination is not nearly as big as for winter, or for our competing Nordic destinations. The tour operators have reported that Finland during the summer season lacks the obvious hero-products or iconic routes (compared to Norwegian fjords and Iceland’s Golden Circle), making it a hard-sell for them. The tour operators are soughting after more polished product, stronger story-telling with compelling imagery and more efforts put towards B2C awareness building, to help them convince consumers to choose Finland.

Despite a 15% decrease in the number of seats offered on flights from the UK to Finland, the anticipated passenger arrivals are expected to remain nearly the same as those recorded last summer.