Helsinki - Tech-savvy Finns are sending fewer and fewer postcards while on holiday, instead sending their greetings from abroad by short text messages, or SMSes, from their cellphones, officials said on Tuesday.

In the late 1990s, before SMS became popular, holidaymaking Finns used to send over 80 million postcards annually to their friends and relatives. Finland has a population of 5.3 million.

By the end of last year however the figure had dropped to 70 million, Heli Heikkilae, product manager with the Finnish Post, told reporters.

"The reason for this is that SMS has taken over from postcards, and quite a lot of people are actually sending SMSes from their holidays," she noted.
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