Estonia Experienced a Boost in Finnish Tourists This September
A total of 260,000 tourists visited Estonia in September, with Finns accounting for 18 per cent of the total arrivals.
According to Statistics Estonia, the number of arrivals increased by 21 per cent compared to last year and international tourism experienced a robust recovery during this period with 129,600 visitors being international and 130,100 local, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.
Furthermore, the data shows that after Finns, Latvians visited Estonia the most this September, reaching a total of 16,000 arrivals. This was up by 23 per cent compared to pre-pandemic levels while Finland as a source market for tourism hasn’t fully recovered yet. Compared to a year ago, the number of tourists from the neighbouring countries was up by 132 per cent and 74 per cent, respectively.
Tourists from other countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany and Asian countries, visited Estonia considerably less than they did before the COVID-19 outbreak.
Helga Laurmaa, an analyst at Statistics Estonia, explains that the number of foreign tourists has increased by 74 per cent this year, but has another 32 per cent left to reach 2019 levels when no travel restrictions and other guidelines weren’t imposed.
“Domestic tourism – which has increased sharply in the last few years – fell by seven per cent in September year on year, but there were 24 per cent more domestic tourists than in September 2019 before the crisis,” Laurmaa noted.
Harju county was the most visited by foreign tourists as 74 per cent of foreign tourists were accommodated there, followed by Pärnu (ten per cent), Tartu (five per cent) and Saare counties (three per cent), where these visitors spent 259,000 overnight stays in September.
On the other hand, domestic tourists spent 214,000 nights in accommodation spots across Estonia with the most popular being Harju (32 per cent), Pärnu (14 per cent) and ten per cent each in IDA-Viru and Tartu counties. Additionally, 67 per cent of domestic tourists cited holidays as a purpose for their trip while 26 per cent were on business trips.
A total of 1,096 accommodation establishments across Estonia served visitors throughout September –127 fewer than in August. Statistics Estonia also reveals that 23,000 rooms and 53,000 beds available for guests during this period with the room occupancy rate standing at 43 per cent.
As per expenses, the average cost of a guest night was €45 per person, €3 more than in the previous month. The average cost of overnight stays differentiated between counties, with Harju county having the highest cost (€50) followed by Tartu county (€46), Ida-Viru county (€41), Saare county (€37) and Pärnu county (€36).
