Those living in the capital area will have the biggest budget, at 1,990 euros, a slight increase on last year when the area's residents estimated spending 1,825 euros on their holidays.
The holiday budgets of those living in Eastern, Western and Northern Finland, however, will decrease this year. Residents of Eastern Finland plan on spending 1,082 euros, as opposed to 1,237 euros last year, while those living in Western Finland will have a budget of 1,243 euros, compared to last year’s figure of 1,390 euros. Meanwhile, residents of Northern Finland estimated that they will spend 1,134 euros on holidaying – the corresponding figure last year was 1,258 euros.
Holidays paid for with hard-earned money and savings
Close to 65 per cent of those surveyed in Finland said they will pay for their summer holiday from their salary. Almost half of all respondents said they had saved for their holidays.
- This comes as good news. Only one per cent of respondents intend to take a loan to pay for their holiday, and only 13 per cent will use a credit card. This result reflects Finns' sensible attitude to managing their finances, says Jari Ohrankämmen from Nordea's Wealth Management.
Saving is the most economical way to prepare for extra expenses during one's holiday. Good forms of saving for a holiday include saving in an account or in a low-risk fund.
- A good way of preparing for all kinds of extra expenses is to divide saving between three different goals, which are reserve cash, long-term saving and saving for retirement. Reserve cash can be withdrawn quickly to finance a holiday or other fairly small expenses. In long-term saving, you can aim for higher yields by investing your assets in the equity market, for example, says Ohrankämmen.
Families with children and people with high income are the biggest consumers
Families with children will have a holiday budget around 300 euros higher than the average in Finland, estimating they will spend 1,715 euros.
The respondents' income and age were also a factor, as the largest holiday budgets were reported by households earning more than 85,000 euros (2,579 euros) and people aged 55 to 65 (1,578 euros).
Commissioned by Nordea, TNS Gallup surveyed holiday spending in Finland, Sweden, Denmark and Norway using Internet panels. The research material was collected between 15 May and 25 May 2014. A total of 1,025 people aged between 18 and 65 were interviewed for the survey.
For further information:
Anni Kuusisto, Chief Press Officer, +358 9 165 42320
Jari Ohrankämmen, Head of Sales, +358 9 165 48101