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.
Locals not shocked
Helsinki's success in the friendliness ranking 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-going 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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