The Year 2025 in a Nutshell

Visit Vaasa’s tourism year 2025

Visit Vaasa’s year began immediately after Epiphany at the Vakantiebeurs travel and tourism fair in the Netherlands. At the same time, it became clear that Visit Finland’s turnover had decreased by 50%. This affected the company’s way of working and created a need to find new sales approaches, especially for tour operators.

Throughout 2025, Visit Vaasa continued its determined efforts to increase the region’s visibility and attractiveness. The company also invested in the Nordic region’s largest travel fair, MATKA2025 in Helsinki. During the trade days, the company presented itself as an independent region, and during the consumer days it participated together with the Visit Ostrobothnia team, including Kokkola, Jakobstad and Seinäjoki. Within the Bothnia Coastal Route collaboration, a promotional trip for tour operators was organised immediately after the fair.

Group bookings started at the same pace as the previous year, and the result remained at the same level as in 2024. Already in spring, it was noticeable that both business travellers and leisure travellers were active in the region. The KAJ group from Vörå put both Vörå and the Vaasa region on the map, especially among Swedish visitors.

Statistics for the Vaasa region

The year was good for the Vaasa region. The number of overnight stays increased by 12% in the region and by 14% in Vaasa (3% in Finland overall). The most notable change was the increase in German visitors during the beginning of the year and spring, partly driven by cruises with Aurora Botnia. The increase for the whole year reached as much as +63%. The number of Swedish visitors also increased significantly, by +24%. Norway, Denmark and the Netherlands also showed growth.

The summer was warm, especially in July when the heat lasted for three consecutive weeks. This increased the number of spontaneous domestic travellers to the region by +5% compared to the previous year.

VR once again brought Vaasa into the headlines when the number of train passengers in the city exceeded 600,000 per year for the second time. The increase was 4% compared to the previous year, reaching a total of 624,900 passengers.

The company’s active participation in the activities of Mara ry and CNF (Congress Network Finland) showed that engagement pays off; both organisations’ major events were held in Vaasa during the autumn. This provided the region with valuable national visibility and created new cooperation opportunities and revenue streams.

Visit Vaasa participated in the organisation, marketing and sales of several events.

Sales and marketing efforts were primarily targeted at Finland, Sweden, the German-speaking countries and the Netherlands. Close cooperation with advertising agencies continued, and the company succeeded in both maintaining visibility and developing its own sales.

Focus on sustainability

The company continues its work on sustainability. Over 50% of the partners working with international tourism hold a sustainability certificate and have completed Visit Finland’s STF programme.

The company is also represented in Visit Finland’s DMO Partnership Club through its CEO, together with around 20 other destinations. In addition, the active role within Mara ry and cooperation with Visit Ostrobothnia continue as before. The Bothnian Coastal Route project entered its final year of operation in 2025, after which it will be evaluated.

Key Figures 2025

Company turnover: €909 771.10
Result for the financial year: €-5 770.64

Overnight stays in the Vaasa region + 12 % and Vaasa + 14 % 
Top 3 countries after Finland
– Sweden
– Germany
– Norway

The share of international visitors was 22 %, and domestic visitors 78 % (2024: 80.5 %).

Rail traffic passengers to Vaasa: +4 %
Air traffic passengers to Vaasa: -4.6 %
Ferry traffic passengers to Vaasa: +2.6 %

Ranking among Finland’s international congress cities: 7th