The purpose of this thesis is to find out how tourism and the shopping behavior of Russian tourists have changed over the past years in Eastern Finland, especially in the Joensuu Region. The interest was found out by interviewing changes from before 2016 to after 2016 in traveling and shopping behavior. The accomplished survey wanted to pay particular attention to the content of the shopping cart and changes in it, as well as factors affecting to purchase decision.

The sample (n = 100) was collected in the end of 2017 (November to December) at the Niirala international border crossing point using a quantitative research method. The interview was conducted with a semi-structured questionnaire, and the results were analyzed with percentage accuracy.

The results show that during the period, many tourists have not increased or significantly reduced their travels. It can be seen that the economic situation in 2014 has not had a major impact on the decline in tourist attractiveness, but on the other hand, an increase in volume is not found when it comes to other surveys. The number of Russian tourists are starting to grow slowly. A crucial conclusion can be made that a shopping traveler arrives in Finland regardless of the economic situation.

Another major research result is related to the content of the shopping cart. Three of the most important factors affecting purchasing decisions were found in most products: price, quality and healthiness. As expected, price was considered one of the most important factors, but the results show at the same time that quality and health were also important criteria in purchasing.