Restaurants | Awarding Michelin stars costs Helsinki 100,000 euros, but there is strong faith in the investment

The Nordics the restaurants’ Michelin stars will be awarded on Monday in Helsinki. Hosting star names in the restaurant and tourism industry is brand work for Helsinki and Finland, which also has to be paid for. The institute’s event is not located in Finland by chance, either, because the background is effective communication.

The event announcing Helsinki’s Michelin stars is roughly financed by three different entities: the Michelin organization, Visit Finland, which promotes Finnish tourism, and the city of Helsinki.

As a public actor, the city of Helsinki has made a public decision on the budget to be used for the event.

“100,000 euros have been budgeted for the collaborative partnership and related side events, marketing and communication,” says the tourism manager Nina Vesterinen From the city of Helsinki.

Visit Finland is committed to keeping the exact funding amount secret.

“We participate in financing the gala with a small, reasonable amount. After all, it’s mainly about Michelin’s celebration, in which we are participating with the city of Helsinki. However, we pay a smaller amount than the Michelin organization,” says Visit Finland Terhi Hookwho has been responsible for the cooperation with Michelin.

HS could not reach the Michelin organization to say how much they pay for the opportunity.

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“Finland is not known as a food country.”

Although getting the opportunity to Finland is paid for, according to Vesterinen and Hook, the benefits of the visit are greater than the costs.

Michelin stars are among the most prestigious recognitions in the restaurant and tourism industry, which restaurants around the world receive every year.

“Finland is not known as a food country. However, authentic local food is one of the single most important factors for tourism. We felt that getting opportunities in Finland could be a good way to promote Finland’s landscape in terms of food, and we set out to promote cooperation based on this,” says Terhi Hook about the background of the project.

Turku and Helsinki were suggested as destinations. According to Hook, the starting points for the negotiations were good, because the event had not been organized in Finland before.

The occasion the city of Helsinki and Visit Finland strongly believe in the tourism-promoting effect. Niina Vesterinen says that the city has estimated that the potential reach of the media presence is at least up to 70 million people.

“A lot of other opportunities and events have also been created around sharing the stars, which I hope will partly remain alive even after this, helping to create networks and develop food tourism,” says Hook.

“An important thing is also the chefs of the restaurants, whose work we want to raise and bring to the fore,” he adds.

Michelin-stars have their roots in the tire company of the same name. Michelin created a restaurant guide to encourage motorists to hit the road and thus promote tire sales. Over the decades, guides have become a significant institution influencing tourism and business.

The star rating is a sign of the quality of the food and service, and you can get them from one to three.

Today, the organization evaluates tens of thousands of workplaces on three different continents.

There are currently seven Michelin-starred restaurants in Finland, five of which are located in Helsinki, one in Porvoo and one in Turku. Two of these have received two stars and five have received one star.

At Monday’s event, green stars that show environmental responsibility and special prizes will also be awarded. Currently, three restaurants in Finland have a green star.