Helsinki Region Tourist Information at Helsinki Airport in Vantaa is visited by 700 people daily.

ONLY one year after Helsinki Region Tourist Information opened at Helsinki Airport in Vantaa, it is bustling – overall 100,000 customers have found their way to the information bureau in Arrivals Hall 2. In the summer months, around 40,000 information seekers visited the office, an average of 700 people per day. Moreover, on 11 June a record was set when over 1,000 customers used the services available – the Euroanaesthesia 2010 congress’s almost 6,000 delegates surely contributed to this achievement.

Accordingly, this joint venture of the Cities of Helsinki, Espoo and Vantaa and the Uusimaa Regional Council, which is also support by the Finnish Tourist Board and Finavia, is a complete success and the numbers have greatly exceeded all expectations. The goal when launching the office was to support the work of the Helsinki tourist information offices while also being a gateway to the rest of Finland and offer services tailored to the needs of airline passengers. The information, therefore, focuses on the airport terminal’s amenities, specific local services for travellers and Finland in general.

As people travel day and night, some services like the internet terminals as well as brochures and maps are available at all times. It is also possible to buy the Helsinki Card from the info point, so no time is lost having to find a sales point in the city. In addition to that, two digital media screens show current tourist information about popular attractions and services in the Helsinki region.

Not surprisingly, information about transportation options and tourist activities are in high demand. “We are most commonly asked about transportation connections to the city centre and what can be done here in the few hours people have between connecting flights,” Information Officer Piia Tuomainen explains. Some trickier inquiries have to been made, though. “Once in a while we have to answer slightly more challenging questions, such as, ‘When is Lapland open’.”

NINA RATAVAARA - HT
helsinki city tourist & convention bureau