The campaign runs through the fall and will cost €250,000, organized by the Estonian Business and Innovation Agency (EIS) under the Visit Estonia brand, and focuses on Estonia’s cuisine.
“Ismo is a fan of Estonia and has even thought about starting a business here, so it didn’t take long to get his agreement. When you approach influencers with topics that genuinely resonate with them, collaborative projects come together easily. In this case, several positive factors aligned: Ismo loves Estonia, he’s passionate about food, and he also had a show coming up in Estonia. Initially, we communicated through his managers, but once we got through to Ismo himself, things went extremely smoothly,” said Kaarel Kõvatu, project manager for tourism marketing at the EIS.
Ismo Leikola on ETV’s “Hommik Anuga.” Source: ERR
The Finnish market is extremely important for Estonia in terms of tourist revenue, she noted. Finnish visitors contribute 41 percent of tourism revenue, which counts as exports, to Estonian tourism companies, and spend an average of €1.6 million in Estonia each day.
While this is helped by the proximity of the country and regular ferry crossings making Tallinn and Estonia a frequent rather than a one-off destination, there has been a fall in arrivals recently, Kõvatu noted.
“Finns are repeat visitors, but due to economic uncertainty, they are making fewer repeat trips to Estonia. Their visits to regions outside Tallinn are also down by about a third. For this reason, bringing Finns back to different parts of Estonia is key to getting tourism back to pre-crisis levels,” Kõvatu stressed.
This is against the backdrop of “fierce global competition” where “every destination is fighting for attention,” he went on. “Opportunities to collaborate with well-known personalities often arise with short notice, so for a lesser-known country like Estonia, it makes sense to grab those chances.”
The Ismo campaign’s main target audience is 25 to 55-year-olds in the Helsinki area who are interested in food and travel. “We’re inviting Finns to discover Estonia’s culinary culture, take part in the diverse autumn food festivals, and enjoy local flavors,” he said. Leikola is accompanied in the clips by Estonian comedian Tamer Kattan.
Visit Estonia has become increasingly personal with its campaigns, Kõvatu noted, referencing the spring 2024 campaign with rapper Nublu, which focused on culture and events. At the time Nublu was collaborating with Finnish rapper Käärijä.
With the Ismo campaign, as well as digital media, including Ismo’s Instagram page and its over two million followers, Helsinki’s public transport and citywide digital screens will also be used, and the campaign was also run at a recent film festival.
Kõvatu noted the creative concept is that of a TV series trailer, but where the main show is actually visiting Estonia. “We use short, trailer-like clips and photos, and to see the full ‘episode’, you have to come here in person,” Kõvatu added.
The campaign budget comes to €250,000 for the period September 30 to November 18, with nearly three quarters of that budget made up of media spending.
Kõvatu said the campaign with Ismo has been received positively by both Finns and Estonian businesses alike, noting that “Ismo adds a much more interesting and engaging context for what Estonia has to offer as a travel destination,” he said.
Youtuber Darren Jason Watkins Jr., known as IShowSpeed, with folk dancers at Stenbock House on July 15, 2025. Source: Jürgen Randma/riigikantselei
The Visit Estonia website saw a 78-percent rise in visits from users in Finland between September 30 and October 29 compared with the previous period.
A recent visit by a noted influencer reportedly yielded €154,000 in advertising revenues from €30,000 spent.
The arrival of Darren Jason Watkins Jr., better known as IShowSpeed, and who has 79 million followers, brought significant international attention to Estonia as well, Kõvatu said.
The related live stream garnered eight million views, while TikTok was flooded with clips, many of which received over half a million views, he noted.
Searches for “Estonia” on Google in the US market increased by 30 percent immediately after the visit, while U.S.-based visits to Visit Estonia’s website rose by 13 percent.
Overnight stays by US visitors have exceeded 2019 levels by 15 percent, Kõvatu added.
The Nublu campaign page racked up half a million visits in spring 2024 and was also followed by an uptick in Finnish visitor numbers the following summer, Kõvatu noted.
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