Many players want to have their fingers in the game when it's Midwinter Fair in Helsinki.
This year, nearly 900 exhibitors from 83 countries came to MATKA to convince the public and media of the excellence of their tourist destination.
The Nordic region's largest travel fair attracts a lot of people and the latest one was no exception. The turnstiles were full and almost 70,000 visitors were on site at the Helsinki fairgrounds. Some exhibitors were coming for the first time and we met Stella W Appentang from Apstar Tours in Ghana, who summed up her impressions with a neat generalization:
”"It's exciting to visit Finland. But it's hard to get close to the Finns. Many are quiet and don't want to make the first contact. But after a few friendly phrases and gestures from us visitors, they get going. You have to make an effort to be seen and heard," said Stella W Appentang to travelreport.se.
Ghana was joined in the ”rookie league” by Rwanda and Ras al-Khaimah in the United Arab Emirates, other exotic additions to the vast sea of trade fairs. From South Korea came Hyein Kang, marketing assistant at the country’s European Tourist Office in London.
”"No problem for us to meet people considering we are hosting the Winter Olympics in a few weeks," said Hyein Kang.
The event in Helsinki also attracted motorhomes and beauty products, not just travel industry exhibitors. There were many new aspects to this year’s fair – and to imports/exports from and to Finland. Kjell Skoglund, CEO of the Finnish-Swedish Chamber of Commerce, delivered a:
”"Last year, eleven thousand new jobs were created, primarily in Healthcare Technology, which is growing the most in Finland. Half of all direct investments came from Sweden. Finland buys fighter jets from Saab, the Mercedes factory in Uusimaa is doing excellently and the shipbuilding industry in Turku has rarely fared better," said Skoglund.
The Swedish Travel Agency and the Swedish Travel Agents Association, SRF, presented news for 2018; among other things, Sweden will have a new package travel law from July 1. New travel guarantee regulations are also in the works.
”"We provide advice, travel law, VAT issues and lobbying through the main European organization ECTAA. A lot will happen in the travel industry this year and there is reason to return to the issues," said Anna Lennhammer, Secretary General of SRF.
Many foreign visitors took the boat to the MATKA trade fair. Tallink Silja is a major player on the Baltic Sea and transported 9.7 million passengers last year, which is almost the same as the entire population of Sweden.
”"We increased by 3.2 percent in 2017 or 300,800 passengers but also 275,000 passenger cars. Our new terminal in Stockholm receives 4.5 million passengers. We don't like the ice in the winters, it disrupts traffic," said Hans Markström, Area Manager for Tallink Silja.
Hans Markström knows what he's talking about when it comes to ice. He was a Swedish Olympic participant in speed skating in Albertville in 1992 and in Lillehammer in 1994. There were no medals then and there – but later in his career he achieved a top position in the shipping industry.
Magnus Wilandh
Text and Photo
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Paul Sikic, head of the Croatian Tourist Office in Stockholm, visited the MATKA fair.
Stella W Appentang and David Nana Anim were Ghana's first-time exhibitors at MATKA.
Hyein Kang, on the right, promoted South Korea's tourism at MATKA.
Iftikhar Hamdani, a hotel owner from the emirate of Ajman in the United Arab Emirates, checked the situation on
