Finlandia Hall’s Revenue Tripled and Visitor Numbers Doubled – “An Extremely Successful First Year”

2025 marked the grand reopening year of the renewed Finlandia Hall. The event venue successfully combined architecture and design with new services and programming, firmly returning the iconic building to the center of the events industry. Revenue rose to €18.4 million, more than tripling compared to the previous year (2024: €5.8 million). Visitor numbers more than doubled, reaching nearly 400,000 guests.

During its launch year, Finlandia Hall made a significant €7 million self-financed investment in new services and event technology. After recording the first depreciation from these investments, the company reported an operating profit of €456,000 — an excellent result for the industry.

“A Tremendous Effort from Our People”

Finlandia Hall CEO Johanna Tolonen attributes the successful outcome to three key factors: the launch, the services, and the people.

“First and foremost, we executed the major return of Finlandia Hall to the events sector perfectly and were able to host outstanding events right from the beginning of the year. Secondly, the strong public interest in our new services positively surprised us, although of course we hoped people would be as excited about them as we were.”

“However, the most important factor behind last year’s success was our staff. Taking over a property of this size and its technical systems after renovation is already challenging in itself. At the same time, we practically doubled our workforce. There were many new elements overall: people, roles, operations, even spaces. It requires agility, creativity, and a solution-oriented mindset to learn and teach so much while already operating at full speed. Last year was truly a tremendous effort from our people,” Tolonen says.

Finlandia Hall’s staff grew from 30 to 73 employees during the year. Of these, 64% work full-time and 36% part-time. The gender distribution was balanced: 50.6% women and 49.4% men. In addition to its own personnel, Finlandia Hall relied on partner companies providing outsourced services and specialist expertise, which play an important role in ensuring operational flexibility, particularly during peak seasons.

“All in all, 2025 was an extremely successful first year of our new era. We have only scratched the surface of the potential that the building and the surrounding urban life can offer,” Tolonen notes.

A Year of Events and Experiences

In 2025, nearly 600 events were held at Finlandia Hall, welcoming both domestic and international guests. International congress clients accounted for 35,000 visitors during the year. Highlights included the OSCE Helsinki+50 Conference, the FESSH Congress for hand surgeons, SLUSH Investor Day, and the return of Helsinki’s traditional Independence Day celebration for fourth-grade students hosted by the Mayor.

The year also introduced entirely new types of consumer events, including open house days, showroom exhibitions by Jukka Rintala, Ornamo and Aarikka, and a Christmas event organized in collaboration with Designkaverit. Popular young adult-targeted events previously held at Little Finlandia were successfully transferred to the main building.

Finlandia Hall’s entertainment and concert calendar became more diverse than in previous years, featuring classical music, heavy metal, ballet, electronic music, schlager, and stand-up comedy.

CEO Tolonen describes the diversification of programming as bold and deliberate innovation and concept development.

“We wanted to create a vibrant meeting place with a broad cultural offering for different age groups and diverse tastes. Last year showed that people are currently seeking inspiring experiences in their lives, and that we truly are a venue for all ages. For example, our bistro even hosted weddings and christenings, and birthday parties were celebrated on the Piazza,” Tolonen says with delight.

New Services Captivated Visitors – 100,000 Guests at the Café

Five new business units were launched at Finlandia Hall: a wine café, a bistro restaurant, a design shop, an exhibition space, and accommodation facilities. Each found its target audience during its first year and achieved profitable growth. In particular, the Finlandia Cafe&Wine quickly gained strong popularity. The combined revenue of the building’s cafés reached €1.1 million in its first year. Visitor numbers at the wine café met the target of 100,000.

Customer feedback on the new services has been outstanding. The exhibition achieved an exceptional Net Promoter Score (NPS) of 78. Overall customer satisfaction across services was excellent: event clients rated their experience on average 4.2 out of 5, while the café and bistro received 4.3.

International Media Visibility and Recognition

The reopening of Finlandia Hall attracted significant international media interest. During the year, 150 foreign journalists visited the venue, and extensive articles were published in outlets including The Guardian, Monocle, and Wallpaper.
The year also brought prestigious awards: Finlandia Hall received Monocle’s “Best Hospitality Fit-Out 2025” recognition and Wallpaper’s Design Awards 2025 prize for “Best Modernist Revival.” Additionally, the building’s renovation was nominated for the 2025 Finlandia Prize for Architecture.

Looking Toward 2026

The launch year was intense and eventful, laying a strong foundation for a new era. Finlandia Hall now serves as a stage for international congresses and events, a destination for architecture and design tourism, and a living room for the city’s residents.

“Although Finland’s events industry has not yet returned to its previous scale, I am pleased with how quickly we strengthened our position in a challenging market. We believe Finlandia Hall will attract increasingly diverse visitor groups in the coming years,” Tolonen says.

This year will also determine whether Alvar Aalto’s architectural ensemble of 13 sites — including Finlandia Hall — will be added to the UNESCO World Heritage List. Such designation would further increase international interest in Finland, Helsinki, and Finlandia Hall.

Meanwhile, the popular Little Finlandia hosted its final events in November 2025. In spring 2026, the building will transition into new use as additional facilities for a media high school and as a service building for a football park. At the same time, Finlandia Hall’s café will gain an expanded terrace and beautiful views over the renewed Töölönlahti Park.