In July, 13% more foreign tourists were accommodated than last year
According to Statistics Estonia, accommodation establishments served 507,600 tourists in July 2024, which is 5% more than in July last year. The number of foreign tourists increased, but the number of domestic tourists decreased in July.
Helga Laurmaa, leading analyst at Statistics Estonia, said that although the number of tourists was higher than in July last year, demand has not yet returned to the level before the recent turbulent years and thus the number of tourists was 3% lower than in July 2019. “272,500 foreign and 235,100 domestic tourists were accommodated in Estonia in July 2024. Year on year, there were 13% more foreign tourists and 2% fewer domestic tourists,” added Laurmaa.
Over half of the foreign tourists arrived from two neighbouring countries – 127,500 from Finland and 21,900 from Latvia. 18,200 people travelled to Estonia from Germany, 10,000 from Lithuania, and 8,600 from Sweden. Compared with July last year, the biggest increase occurred in the number of tourists from Germany (up by 37%).
The vast majority of foreign tourists were on holiday (85%), while a tenth were travelling on business. 69% of foreign tourists preferred to stay overnight in Harju county, followed by Pärnu (12%), Tartu (6%) and Saare (4%) counties.
Among domestic tourists, 79% were on holiday and 11% were travelling on business. The biggest share of domestic tourists were accommodated in Harju county (21%), followed by Pärnu (18%), Ida-Viru (10%) and Saare (9%) counties.
Tourists spent a total of 960,100 nights in accommodation establishments: domestic tourists stayed for 430,200 nights and foreign tourists for 529,900 nights in total.
In July, 1,238 accommodation establishments served visitors in Estonia. There were 24,500 rooms and 58,700 bed places available for guests. The room occupancy rate was 61%. The average cost of a guest night was 49 euros per person, which is 2 euros more than in July 2023 and 23% more than in July 2019. The cost of an overnight stay per person was 58 euros in Pärnu county, 51 euros in Harju and Saare counties, 48 euros in Tartu county, 47 euros in Lääne county, and 40 euros in Ida-Viru and Lääne-Viru counties.
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 +372 625 9181
press [at] stat.ee (press[at]stat[dot]ee)