Finnish border guard predicts up to 50.000 people per day will cross the border to and from Russia, or in other words; one person every two seconds, reports Helsingin Sanomat. The newspaper quotes tour operators in St. Petersburg saying that all tours in the Christmas period are sold out.
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Finland’s visa centre in St. Petersburg is expected to have issued close to one million visas before the year end. Also in the Barents Region, Finland issues far more visa this year than in 2010.
- At this rate, we are about to issue some 52.000 visa, Finland’s Consul in Murmansk told BarentsObserver earlier this autumn.
We have a substantial increase in visitors from Russia this Christmas, said Sanna Kortelainen, managing director of Rovaniemi Tourist & Marketing Ltd. to BarentsObserver earlier in December.
According to Helsingin Sanomat, Finland is No. 1 choice as foreign country destination among Russians, followed by Turkey and China.
Finnish Tourist Board beleives a total of 300.000 to 350.000 Russians will visit Finland around New Year and the first days of January.
