The numbers of domestic and foreign tourists increased by 4% in May year on year

169,300 foreign and 134,900 domestic tourists were accommodated in Estonia in May. Similarly to May last year, the bigger share of accommodated guests – 56% – were foreign tourists and 44% were domestic tourists.

Helga Laurmaa, leading analyst at Statistics Estonia, noted that the number of foreign tourists has increased in most months this year. “The number of foreign tourists was 4% bigger than in May last year but has not yet fully recovered from the slump a few years ago,” she added. “Domestic tourism has bounced back and exceeds pre-pandemic levels. Compared with May last year, there were 4% more domestic tourists accommodated. Their number was also 22% higher than in May 2019,” said Laurmaa.

58,200 tourists arrived from Finland, representing 34% of all foreign tourists accommodated in Estonia. Accommodation establishments hosted 22,800 tourists from Latvia (13%), 12,000 tourists from Germany (7%), about 7,000 tourists from Lithuania (4%), nearly 6,700 tourists from the United Kingdom (4%), 6,700 tourists from Asian countries (4%), 6,500 tourists from the United States (4%), and 5,900 tourists from Sweden (4%). Compared with May 2024, there were 5% fewer accommodated tourists from Finland and 3% fewer tourists from Lithuania. Year on year, there were more accommodated tourists from Latvia, Germany, the United Kingdom, Asian countries, the United States and Sweden.

In May, 78% of the accommodated foreign tourists were on holiday and 17% were on business trips. 72% of the foreign tourists preferred to stay overnight in Harju county, followed by Pärnu (11%), Tartu (7%), Saare (3%) and Ida-Viru (2%) counties. Lääne, Lääne-Viru, Valga and Võru counties each accommodated 1% of the foreign tourists.

In the case of accommodated domestic tourists, 69% were on holiday and 22% were on business trips. The biggest share of domestic tourists were accommodated in Harju county (32%), followed by Pärnu (13%), Tartu (10%), Ida-Viru (10%) and Saare (7%) counties. Lääne and Valga counties each accommodated 6% of the domestic tourists.

Tourists spent a total of 552,000 nights in accommodation establishments: foreign tourists stayed for 330,000 nights and domestic tourists for 222,000 nights in total.

In May, 1,038 accommodation establishments served visitors in Estonia. There were almost 24,000 rooms and 55,000 bed places available for guests. The room occupancy rate was 46%. The average cost of a guest night was 54 euros per person, which is 10% more than in May 2024 and 26% more than in May 2019. The average cost of an overnight stay per person was 60 euros in Harju county, 54 euros in Lääne-Viru county, 49 euros in Ida-Viru county, 47 euros in Lääne and Saare counties, 46 euros in Tartu county, and 45 euros in Pärnu county.

Statistics Estonia collects and analyses accommodation data for the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications with the aim to determine the economic situation in Estonia.

See also the dedicated section on tourism, accommodation and food service and the tourism industry dashboard. More detailed data have been published in the statistical database.

When using Statistics Estonia’s data and graphs, please indicate the source.
 

For further information:

Heidi Kukk
Media Relations Manager
Marketing and Dissemination Department
Statistics Estonia
Tel +372 5696 6484
press [at] stat.ee (press[at]stat[dot]ee)

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