Estonia registers rise in foreign tourism despite fall in domestic tourism

Friday, August 11, 2023

In Estonia domestic tourists declined, while the number of foreign travelers rose.337,000 guests stayed at hotels in Estonia in June 2023, the same number as in June of the previous year, according to Statistics Estonia.

According to Statistics Estonia’s chief analyst, Helga Laurmaa, almost 163,000 foreign tourists were lodged in Estonia in June.

“Foreign arrivals did not yet reach the pre-crisis level of June 2019, remaining a third lower, but compared with June 2022, the number of foreign tourists increased by 9 percent,” she said.

Domestic traveler numbers decreased for the third consecutive month; they were down 5% in April, 6% in May, and 7% in June when compared to the same period last year. On the other hand, domestic tourism increased by 14% from June 2019 to June 2023.

Once more, Finland accounted for the biggest proportion of tourists to Estonian lodging facilities (43 percent of all foreign visitors). Then came Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, Sweden, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Asian nations.

There were more tourists in June 2023 compared to June 2022, both from nearby and European nations. The number of visitors from Finland increased by 17%, those from Germany by 8%, and those from Lithuania by 10%. Additionally, there were more visitors from the US, UK, Poland, and Sweden than a year before.

The number of tourists coming from Asia doubled in a year, although it still remained significantly lower than before the pandemic. However, compared to June of previous year, there were 9% fewer arrivals from Latvia. In contrast to 15% of the international tourists who were there on business, 80% of them were tourists.

68 percent of the international guests were hosted by the county of Harju, which was followed by the counties of Pärnu (13 percent), Tartu (7 percent), Saare (4 percent), and Ida-Viru (2 percent). Each of the counties of Lääne, Lääne-Viru, Valga, Viljandi, and Vru hosted 1% of the international visitors.

In all, international tourists stayed in Estonia for about 324,000 nights.In June, 174,000 domestic travelers stayed at accommodations. They were traveling for leisure in proportion of 73% and business in proportion of 18%.

Nearly a quarter of all domestic visitors were lodged in Harju county, followed by 16 percent in Pärnu, 10 percent in Ida-Viru, and 8 percent each in Saare and Tartu. Each county in Valga and Lääne-Viru hosted 6% of domestic tourists. In total, domestic travelers stayed in hotels for 302,000 nights.

There were 1,221 lodging facilities in Estonia in June, an increase of 158 from May. 57,000 beds and 23,000 rooms were available for tourists. The occupancy rate in the room was 48%. The average cost per guest night was €47, up €6 and €17 from June 2022 and June 2019, respectively.

The average price per visitor night grew by 15% annually. The average price per person for an overnight stay was €55 in the county of Harju, €49 in the county of Pärnu, €46 in the county of Lääne-Viru, €44 in the county of Tartu, €43 in the county of Ida-Viru, and €33 in the county of Saare. In most counties, the average price of overnight lodging increased.

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