Last year, there were about 2.6 million overnight stays by visitors in Lapland. Stays by visitors from abroad were up by 18% while stays by Finns rose by over 9%.
The biggest boost to the tourism sector came from the growth in visitors from Asian countries. Overnight stays by Asian tourists shot up by close to 50%. Stays by Chinese tourists doubled from 2015 levels.
More Brits
A traditional Christmas season destination for British visitors, Finnish Lapland registered a 24% increase in stays by tourists from the UK. In contrast, the number of overnight stays by Russian tourists fell by almost a quarter.
The Christmas season in general was good for the tourism sector, 20% up from the previous year.
According to figures from Statistics Finland, the average overnight stay in Lapland costs 130 euros, as compared to an average 100 elsewhere in the country.