Matka 2004 - The Finnish International Travel Fair (January 15-18, 2004) and Caravan 2004 (January 16-18, 2004) will be held together at the Helsinki Fair Centre next January.
The same ticket will be good for both fairs. The theme this time will be family travel.
With the rise in the standard of living and the increase in disposable income, Finns are spending more and more of their leisure time travelling nowadays. Finnish tourists want to find out more about foreign cultures, learn new languages, try different cuisines and explore local nature. Incoming visitors primarily associate Finland with nature, winter and snow and consider it a safe and peaceful country with plenty of space for rambling.
The family travel campaign which has been conducted by the Finnish Tourist Board for the past two years has produced good results and clear growth has been recorded in family travel from neighbouring countries. The goal of the campaign is to make Finland the leading year-round family travel destination in the Nordic countries.
This year’s fair attracted nearly 17,000 professionals in the travel field from 60 different countries. The largest number arrived from Russia, Estonia and Sweden. Professionals come to the fair to update information, make new contacts, meet colleagues and hear about the latest trends in the field. The trade fair offers foreign tour operators an excellent opportunity to meet Finnish service providers and find out what they offer.