Turku and Saaristo, The Archipelago of Finland, have been in the international spotlight this year in an unprecedented way. Many of the world's most influential media outlets have visited our region and told their audiences about the appeal of Turku and the archipelago.
- The Times: Finland’s offbeat third city — with 40,000 islands in its backyard
- Wallpaper: Turku: why Finland’s oldest city is one to visit right now | Wallpaper*
- Condé Nast Traveller: The best things to do in Finland in the summer | CN Traveller
- The Saaristo website features excerpts from media coverage related to especially the archipelago in 2025: Media highlights
This year, Turku and the archipelago have been visited by around 50 international media representatives and influencers from the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Sweden, and as far away as Hong Kong. Their stories have reached tens of millions of readers and viewers.
The media visits to the region have been organized mainly in cooperation between Visit Turku Archipelago and Visit Finland. The aim of the visits is to present the archipelago as a unique tourist destination and to raise awareness of Turku.
"We proactively promote Turku and the Turku archipelago to international media and influencers throughout the year, highlighting Turku's gastronomic offerings, rich history, relaxed and unique local lifestyle, and, of course, the beautiful nature of the archipelago," summarizes Heli Jimenez, Director of International Marketing and PR at Visit Finland.
Star moments for audiences of millions
“Attracting media visits to our region is a long-term endeavour. This year, we can be particularly pleased, as our region has attracted the interest of numerous top media outlets,” says Heli Nieminen, Communications and PR Manager at Visit Turku Archipelago.
One of the highlights of the year was the visit of the American CBS channel to Turku and the archipelago. CBS's live broadcasts from Turku and its news story on the Coolcation trend reached a total of nearly four million viewers.
The respected British media outlets The Times, The Independent, Metro, and Condé Nast Traveller have also featured Turku and the archipelago this year, highlighting cultural life, architecture, maritime experiences, and food culture.
The Times, which reaches over 11.5 million readers online each month, headlined its article on Turku "Finland's offbeat third city — with 40,000 islands in its backyard."
The Times article has received a huge amount of feedback from all quarters and has also been widely noticed internationally. We were also delighted to read an article by Metro journalist Sophie-May Williams, in which she encourages readers to forget about Greece and other traditional holiday destinations and try island hopping in our archipelago instead," says Nieminen.
Turku charms with its diversity
The City of Turku regularly conducts media visits in collaboration with Visit Turku Archipelago, among others. The London-based communications agency ING Media supports this work.
"Through long-term work and, above all, cooperation between various actors, we have increased Turku's international visibility by 20 percent since 2022. Based on the City of Turku's measurements alone, Turku has gained 1.69 million viewers and readers in three years, says Saara Malila, Communications Director for the City of Turku.
Malila says that the media is attracted to Turku by a diverse program that combines the city's branding goals: an enjoyable, surprising, historic, maritime, and developing Turku.
"It is easy to link major cultural investments, such as the Fuuga concert hall, and the wonderful food culture of Turku and the surrounding region to these themes. We also almost always showcase advances in the maritime industry or medicine in companies, most recently the promotion of women's health through the Turku Women's Health Hub," says Malila.
International awareness has also been raised by presenting the city's key urban development projects and investments to the international media, for example at the MIPIM investor fair in Cannes. Monocle and Asia Today magazines and radio publications have raised Turku's profile as an interesting and sustainably growing investment destination.
Sustainability, food experiences, and Moomins are of interest
This year, articles about Turku have been published from many different perspectives. In its article “Why Finland’s oldest city prides itself on its future legacy,” the respected global publication Wallpaper presents Turku as a progressive tourist destination that combines sustainable growth and climate action with a thriving culture and a magnificent archipelago with saunas.
The Swedish magazine Hemmets Veckotidning paints a picture of Turku as the "Paris of the North," which charms visitors with its food and other experiences as well as its history and culture, while ELLE Mat & Vin has devoted two pages to the food and drink culture of Turku and the archipelago.
The Moomins have also brought considerable visibility to the area in their 80th anniversary year. In the Hong Kong publication Ming Pao, Dawn Hung invites travelers to "explore the quirky charm of Finland's former capital."
Turku has also been included as an interesting food destination in USTOA's international Global Kitchen series, the umbrella organization for the US travel industry.
Numerous articles based on media visits this year will be published throughout the rest of this year and next year, and media visits for 2026 are already being planned.
“Behind these successful visits is the collaboration of dozens of people. Fortunately, our region has some truly wonderful destinations and entrepreneurs who understand the value of this kind of PR and are eager to organize visits with us," Nieminen and Malila say gratefully.