Midnight Sun Workshop provided over 1500 quality meetings between international buyers and Finnish suppliers.

For Monica Poulo from Kensington Tours, Canada, this was first time in Finland. “We were on familiarization trip in Lakeland and I was truly amazed how much Finland has to offer. I think this is beautiful country, but it was also amazing to meet Finnish partners, who are so passioned about tourism. Our clients seek outside the box experiences, so I would imagine them going outside Helsinki or visiting Lapland in summertime. Also Lakeland would be a potential destination for us. I am excited to create nice experiences both for summer and winter time”, says Poulo.  

Suvi Pribilla, Visit Finland’s representative for German market considers important, that buyers see the destination with their own eyes as familiarization trip helps to understand distances and logistics. “It is great, that buyers had the possibility to discover the Finnish summer – winter is already an established product, so now we had opportunity to showcase the wonderful Finnish summer season”, says Pribilla.  

Also Sonja Sabrina Frey from Hauser Exkursionen says, that such kind of events are important. Her purpose was to find new regions in Finland, and she got lots of new ideas and inspiration through the event. Loveleen Panache from Indian company Essel Leisure Services says that workshop was useful for her as well: “I see Finland as destination for FIT tourists, that offers unique experiences, such as great food, spas, northern locations... In my opinion, travelling to Finland is about transformation experience, where people can reconnect with their inner self”, says Panache.

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Positive comments were given also from Finnish supplier side: Maria Rasmussen from Visit Pori was happy to introduce their region to buyers, as many tour operators know Finnish Archipelago and Coastal area, but Pori and Rauma regions are new to them. Also Tanja Lajunen from Visit Savonlinna confirms, that she liked the event: “I have had lots of useful meetings today and was positively surprised about amount of new potential contacts”, says Lajunen.  

“International sales events are golden for human-to-human businesses. It is important that our tour operator and travel agency partners see and experience our product. Last years’ growth to global network carrier and opening new routes do offer possibilities also to the Finnish tourism industry”, comments Anssi Partanen, Sales Development Manager at Finnair. 

And of course, this event would not be possible without co-operation. Director of Visit Finland’s global sales promotion team Mervi Toivonen thanks all the partners involved. “We have carried out magnificent event, that resulted over 1500 meetings between international buyers and Finnish suppliers. Commitment to this project from all sides was stunning, which can now be reseen through lots of positive feedback, that we have received both from buyers and suppliers.“