Helsinki ranks among top 5 friendliest tourist cities in Europe
Only the Irish cities of Cork and Dublin and the Italian city of Siena beat out the Finnish capital in a recent Conde Nast Traveller ranking. Helsinki, the Finnish capital of the Conde Nast Traveller, has been named among the friendliest tourist cities in Europe by its tourism director, Nina Vesterinen, who praised the city's honesty and empathy. Helsinki beat out the Irish cities of Cork and Dublin and the Italian city of Siena to become the only Nordic city ranked in the top ten. The city's total number of voters in the magazine's 2023 Readers' Choice Award was over half a million. The only Irish cities that beat Helsinki were Dublin and Cork and SienA, which topped the list. Helsinki's success did not surprise its tourism manager, with the city being voted the happiest capital city in the world six times in a row.
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Helsinki's tourism director said that part of the city's high ranking was that locals show tourists honesty and empathy.
Only the Irish cities of Cork and Dublin and the Italian city of Siena beat out the Finnish capital in a recent Conde Nast Traveller ranking.
Helsinki ranked fourth on Conde Nast Traveller's 2023 Readers' Choice Award top ten list of the friendliest cities in Europe.
The only cities that beat out Helsinki were the two Irish cities of Dublin and Cork and Siena, Italy, which topped the list.
Helsinki beat out Stockholm, Oslo and Copenhagen in the international travel magazine's reader poll to become the only Nordic city ranked in the top ten.
The total number of voters in the magazine's travel survey was over half a million.
Helsinki's success in the race for friendliness did not surprise the city's tourism manager.
"After all, we have been voted the happiest capital city in the world six times in a row. I think happiness is also about meeting people in an easy and friendly way," said Nina Vesterinen, the City of Helsinki's Tourism Director.
According to Vesterinen, Helsinki takes care of its visitors.
"We listen to customers and find solutions. Not the over-enthusiastic and fake smiles that we see in many other countries. Honesty is another thing, it's part of kindness and empathy towards others," Vesterinen said.
Vesterinen added that she thinks Helsinki is a pretty good-sized city. It may be easy for tourists to approach locals and tourists are not in their own compartments, but walk among the locals.
Many people in Helsinki also have a good command of languages. Tourists can even be served in their own language.
"In the Tourist Information Centre, we constantly receive feedback that the people of Helsinki are really friendly. For example, they stop to give advice to tourists who ask for help, even if they themselves are in a hurry, more easily than in many other big cities. We are praised for being genuine and people-oriented, Vesterinen noted.
Most tourists coming to Helsinki are from the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom and Sweden.
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