Mayor: Helsinki at the fingertips

Because of its "unique" cooperation with Chinese technology companies, Helsinki is now at the fingertips of 1 billion Chinese people, according to Jan Vapaavuori, mayor of the Finnish capital.

The China-based technology giant Tencent has now delivered a sub-application, called Helsinki City Guides mini-program, in its messaging application WeChat. Chinese tourists heading to the city can use it to learn traveling routes, sight-seeing recommendations, read restaurant reviews, and even buy tickets for local transportation.

"We do believe that this kind of transformation actually gives those cities who believe in the 'living like a local' philosophy, and those cities that are really good in technology, truly smart tourism," Vapaavuori said at the 8th WTCF Fragrant Hills Tourism Summit held in Helsinki on Tuesday, which has the theme "smart tourism".