VISIT Finland is courting the Chinese market with its new Meaningful Encounters campaign launched this year, the first time the NTO is investing in an image campaign for China.
This three-year, one million euro (US$1.2 million) campaign leverages the unique winter attractions found in the northern European country.
Anna Leikkari, editor-in-chief, VisitFinland.com, the primary marketing channel for the NTO, said: “The exotic Finnish winter with the northern lights and the one and only Santa Claus are something the Chinese are keen to experience.”
To entice Chinese travellers, the NTO launched a new VisitFinland Chinese campaign page, which has attracted over a million visits since its launch a few months ago.
The features-rich website aims to give a hint of the real experience in Finland by integrating the use of videos on a parallax scrolling page as well as a rich mix of images and videos of the destination.
According to Nina Hilden, marketing manager of Visit Finland, there were 100,075 Chinese overnights in registered accommodation facilities in Finland in 2012. This number increased to 126,495 in 2013.
As of end-August, there were 90,818 Chinese overnights, an approximate 5.8 per cent increase over the same period in 2013. Hilden said: “The amount of Chinese visitors is still relatively low compared to many other nationalities.
“The biggest challenge is the lack of information about Finland in the Chinese market. Due to stiff competition among all destinations of the world, it is not easy to get the message across about Finland’s uniqueness.”
Seeking to change that, the campaign includes print, online media and outdoor advertising, plus product campaigns, for which the NTO will partner with suppliers and Finnish national carrier Finnair for roadshows in China.
A buyer at CITM, Ding Hong Bo, general manager of Shanghai Youqin Information, who led a leisure group to Finland for the first time earlier in August, said: “It was a refreshing experience for all of us because the culture and lifestyle there is something very different for the Chinese.
“I am sure there will be greater interest in this destination now as the younger Chinese travellers especially are looking for unique holidays.”
