Most popular vacation destination in Finland remains Greece, which in recent years has been on a steady upward trend, surpassing Spain, which comes second in the preferences of Finns.

This was confirmed at the international tourism fair Matka Travel Fair 2025, which was successfully held at the Helsinki Finland Exhibition and Convention Center from 16 to 19 January 2025. The EOT participated in the fair with a 60-square-meter pavilion, attracting a large number of visitors who expressed their love for our country and its gastronomy, according to APE/MPE.

Greece’s ambassador to Finland Natalia Karageorgou, Cyprus’ ambassador to Finland Demetrios Samoil, the chief of staff of the Greek embassy in Finland Demetrios Karakonstantis and the director of the consular office Euthalia Zacharioudaki visited the pavilion.

Finnish interest remains strong for the popular destinations Crete, Rhodes and the Cyclades. However, a large proportion of visitors were also seeking information on new authentic and sustainable destinations in northern Greece, Thessaly and the Peloponnese, where they can combine nature and sea activities. There was also significant interest in searching for destinations for family holidays, camping and ideal destinations during the winter season, while interest in city break destinations such as Athens and Thessaloniki remains stable.

According to data released by the Finnish T.O.s Association “Smal.fi”, in 2024 more than 650,000 packages were made to destinations in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. Greece has held the top position as the most popular destination for Finns for many years and the figures for 2024 prove the same. Almost 225,000 packages were made to Greece, an increase of 7.4% compared to the previous year. The second favourite destination for Finns was Spain, with almost 187,000 packages (an increase of 3.3% compared to 2023).

Co-exhibitors at the EOT stand at Matka Travel Fair 2025 were the Regions of Crete and Central Macedonia, the Halkidiki Tourism Organisation, Atrium Hotels & Resorts and the Federation of Finnish-Hellenic Associations, which has 18 Associations and 2,000 Finnish members.

According to the organisers’ figures, Matka attracted more than 850 exhibitors/co-exhibitors from around 70 countries and visitors exceeded 56,000, recording an 11% increase compared to last year. The increased number of visitors demonstrates people’s desire to discover new attractive destinations in order to plan their next trips.