Helsinki Partners is a city marketing, investment and talent attraction company, working for, and owned by the City of Helsinki. The first rule of any marketing company is to believe in your product, and Helsinki Partners has no issues on that score.
“I would say our unique selling point is Helsinki itself,” says Leena Lassila, Helsinki Partners’ Director of Visitor Attraction. “Helsinki is a unique city, it is big enough to have a vivid city culture, business ecosystem, large start-up community and to function as a testbed for new innovations but small enough to make everything work smoothly – people are well connected and there is low bureaucracy.”
These are qualities that are reflected in Helsinki Partners itself. As a company, it opens doors for its clients and matches people with possibilities.
“Our staff are helpful, motivated and highly committed to serving our clients,” Lassila says. “Our mission is to promote the city’s sustainable growth and build Helsinki’s global reputation and brand. We do this by attracting international investments, businesses, congresses, business events, talent and visitors, and by conducting international sales and marketing.”
Selling a City
Helsinki Partners has been doing well in that mission, with a record year in 2019, and a very good sales funnel for the following years. As demand was rising, international hotel investors saw big potential in Helsinki. But then 2020 happened.
“During the pandemic, conferences were all postponed or switched to virtual and only now are we starting to see the same sales flow again,” Lassila shares. “It took several years to recover. During those years, our city invested in expanding hotel capacity to the point where we can now easily accommodate conferences.’”
Anybody who takes advantage of what Helsinki has to offer has immediately come to appreciate it. Yet Helsinki Partners has still faced obstacles in its mission to get the word out.
“One big challenge is simply general awareness of Helsinki. Based on research, we know that our product is ahead of the brand,” Lassila points out. “Every time we have clients visiting Helsinki, they seem to be very positively surprised. 80% of our conference delegates report that this is their first visit to Helsinki, which shows our huge potential for growth.”
Lassila believes the city of Helsinki is only now beginning to realise that potential. During the summer of 2024, Helsinki recovered to the pre-pandemic levels in terms of overnights. During this year Helsinki has also seen an upswing in big international concerts and business events.
“2025 seems to be a very good year for congresses and business events again,” Lassila says. “Conferences organised in Helsinki usually overperform when it comes to delegate attendance and expectations. For example, in July the European Academy of Neurology EAN congress’ estimated 6,000 participants and in the end saw an attendance of 7,000 delegates.”
With results like that, Helsinki Partners has a strong foundation to build the brand even further.
“Our brand is developing in the right direction. By accurately measuring awareness and visitor satisfaction across a number of metrics, we can see the development of a positive public image for the city,” Lassila says. “There are no shortcuts, but we are heading in the right direction, and we are already seeing some heartening results.”
Looking forward, Lassila has big ambitions for the future of Helsinki and the whole metropolitan area. She believes it has the potential to be the most sustainable destination for conferences and business events in the world.
“Last year, Helsinki managed to raise its position in the GDS Index, and we are now in fourth place worldwide,” Lassila says proudly. “This year, we have started a very comprehensive two-year program where we help local companies to promote all the fantastic sustainability work they are doing internationally.”
A Home for Talent
One of the strongest selling points for Helsinki as a place to do business is the reservoir of talent that can be found there, and that talent is attracted by the excellent working conditions that Helsinki can provide.
Helsinki Partners itself is just one example of that.
“Our USPs as a city, and as a company, are strongly connected to Nordic work-life balance,” Lassila says. “We invest in our employees’ wellbeing and measure it systematically. We also develop our leadership teams and devote a great deal of concentration to building our company culture. As a company we attract people who are passionate about the product; Helsinki.”
By offering interesting career opportunities alongside an opportunity to promote the city of Helsinki, the company attracts members of staff who are very passionate about the city.
“It is all about balancing your work and free time,” Lassila tells us. “After office hours there is plenty of free time to spend with your friends and family and enjoy the things the city has to offer; the closeness to the sea and nature, the art and design, and an interesting food scene.”
Despite all Helsinki has to offer and all the progress that Helsinki Partners has made, Lassila is the first to point out that the company has a great deal of work ahead of it.
“Destination branding and sales promotion is long-term work and our sights are on the city’s sustainable growth and building Helsinki’s global reputation and brand,” she tells us. “Year after year, Finland and Helsinki top the World Happiness Index.”
Lassila is right. In fact, this year marks the seventh year that Helsinki has been awarded the top spot on the list.
“We want to bring that up and welcome visitors, talents, businesses and events with open arms,” Lassila says. “We are not perfect; this is a real place with real people. In Helsinki, we enjoy simple pleasures: clean air, pure water, relaxing saunas, unique food, walking around in the woods and on the seashore, experiencing local events and celebrations, and enjoying design in everyday life. Helsinki Happiness is calm and peaceful; it’s an appreciation for how things work and the ability to pause and admire the little things in life.”
