The reason for the high demand was partly local tourism, which was popular in both Finland and Sweden, and partly the recovery in international tourism to the Nordic countries – and then the ships, which many wanted to experience.
During the recently concluded summer season, Viking Line served 1,786,499 passengers in June–August.
”"Estonia, Sweden and Åland all attracted Finns this summer. Local tourism does not seem to have been just a passing phenomenon during the pandemic, but has grown further. We also had a very strong offering on all our routes – for many of our passengers, the sea voyage itself is the highlight of the holiday and the most important reason for going on a cruise," says Viking Line's Marketing Director Nina Suominen.
Viking Line's passenger numbers during the summer months increased the most on the Tallinn route, where the increase was 8.7 percent. The shipping company had prepared for the holiday season by doubling the capacity of the Tallinn departures during the high summer, and for six weeks three red ships operated across the Gulf of Finland: Viking XPRS, which changed to the Finnish flag in the spring, and Viking Cinderella and Gabriella.
”The hotel packages in Tallinn and the cruises were in particularly good demand – the number of cruise passengers increased by over a quarter. In total, we had 656,401 passengers on the route between Helsinki and Tallinn in June–August. There should have been even greater demand, but in July our capacity was practically sold out.”
The cheap krona attracted people to Stockholm
”"Finnish travelers were attracted to Sweden by the exceptionally low exchange rate of the Swedish krona and by the rich range of events in Stockholm. Interest in Helsinki and Finland was, in turn, greater than ever among national Swedes, and many of our departures between Helsinki and Stockholm were also sold out well in advance. It was a big change for the passengers who were used to booking summer cruises at the last minute," says Ninna Suominen.
”"A big draw was also the legendary Cinderella, which took a break from its normal Stockholm–Mariehamn route to work in the Gulf of Finland for the summer. Next spring, Cinderella will return to Helsinki, which has been real good news for many of our customers in Finland."”
According to the press release.
