Helsinki, “City of Design”

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Sure, you know that Sweden hit it big in the design world with IKEA, but did you know that Finland staked a claim, too? In fact, there’s even a Design District in Helsinki. In December 2014, UNESCO awarded Helsinki the title of “City of Design,” in addition to the status it had already gained in 2012 as a World Design Capital. Helsinki’s recognition as a design destination has continued to grow, with the tourism industry seeing the results: innovative designs observed throughout the city have now pushed the northern European capital to the top of the list of must-see destinations. For instance, Condé Nast Traveler recently ranked Helsinki 9th on its list of Top 15 travel destinations for the year; World Travel Guide put Helsinki in 8th on its Top 12 list.

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Now, it seems that no area in the city centre is devoid of a unique style: the Design District and the Arabia District near the old town stand out in particular. The flagship stores of famous Finnish design brands like Marimekko and small boutiques featuring up-and-coming designers are popular attractions among visitors. With so many interesting and quirky products, you’ll be hard pressed not to do some serious shopping.

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Helsinki’s design DNA continues to evolve in terms of tourism marketing and is being carefully cultured to attract the curious. “In addition to traditional design, Helsinki stands out in terms of urban design and service design. Helsinki is committed to using design to develop more user-friendly services and an open city, which also provides direct benefits to visitors,” says Tuulikki Becker, CEO of Visit Helsinki.

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Arabianranta, a design-oriented model community of apartments and offices

Helsinki’s design offerings are continually pointed out to visiting travel bloggers and tour operators. Altogether 50 travel bloggers from around the world will attend the MATKA travel fair and get to know more about Helsinki as part of the Nordic Blogger’s Experience (NBE) campaign that is being carried out together by Visit Helsinki, Visit Finland and the MATKA travel fair.

It might be too late to reserve your own domain name for an invite but with enough research, even you can design a travel itinerary worthy of Helsinki.