Eleven workers at Visit Finland will lose their jobs with the government-run tourism bureau, Business Finland (BF) has announced in a statement, following the conclusion of negotiations with employee representatives.
The talks lasted six weeks and concluded with a decision to eliminate 17 positions at the tourism agency. Some employees were offered a chance to change positions, but the employment of 11 workers at the tourism bureau will end, BF confirmed.
When the negotiations were announced in August, Business Finland said job cuts were prompted by the government's planned cuts to the state budget.
BF is a state-owned business funding agency, while its Visit Finland division promotes tourism.
The state-owned firm said that as of the end of August, Visit Finland employed around 50 people in Finland and abroad.
It added that Visit Finland's basic funding would be reduced to 7.8 million euros, and due to the end of other funding — including money from an EU recovery fund — the tourism bureau's budget would effectively be halved next year.
At the time, Johanna Jäkälä, the executive director of promotion services at the company, expressed regret about the potential effect of the cuts.
"This is a dramatic blow to the entire tourism industry in Finland, and we are very sorry about the situation," she said in August.
The tourism outfit also promotes sustainable international growth of companies, business groups and Finnish tourism regions, according to Business Finland.
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