Number of accommodated Finnish tourists grew considerably in September

Helga Laurmaa, analyst at Statistics Estonia, said that 129,600 foreign and 130,100 domestic tourists were accommodated in Estonia. “There were 74% more foreign tourists than in September 2021, but the number of foreign tourists was still 32% smaller than in September 2019 before the pandemic. Domestic tourism – which has increased sharply in the last few years – fell by 7% in September year on year, but there were 24% more domestic tourists than in September 2019 before the crisis,” added Laurmaa.  

Compared with September 2021, there were more tourists from many European countries as well as from countries outside of Europe. The biggest number of foreign visitors came from Finland (47,000) and Latvia (16,000). The number of tourists from these neighbouring countries rose, respectively, by 132% and 74% compared with September last year. Tourist arrivals from Finland did not reach pre-pandemic levels, but the number of Latvian tourists was 23% higher. The number of tourists arriving from further away – Germany, United Kingdom, USA and Asian countries – was much smaller than in 2019.

74% of the foreign tourists were accommodated in Harju county, followed by Pärnu (10%), Tartu (5%), and Saare county (3%). Foreign tourists spent a total of 258,000 nights in Estonia.

For 67% of domestic tourists, the purpose of their trip was holiday, and 26% were on business trips. The largest share of domestic tourists (32%) was accommodated in Harju county, 14% in Pärnu county and 10% each in Ida-Viru and Tartu counties. Domestic tourists spent a total of 214,000 nights in accommodation establishments.

In September, 1,096 accommodation establishments served visitors – this is 127 fewer than in August. There were 23,000 rooms and 53,000 bed places available for guests. The room occupancy rate was 43%. The average cost of a guest night was 45 euros per person, which is three euros more than in August. The average cost of an overnight stay per person was 50 euros in Harju county, 46 euros in Tartu county, 41 euros in Ida-Viru county, 37 euros in Saare county and 36 euros in Pärnu county.

* The number of foreign tourists does not include refugees from Ukraine.  

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.

For further information:

Helen Maria Raadik
Media Relations Manager
Marketing and Dissemination Department
Statistics Estonia
Tel +372 625 9181
press [at] stat.ee (press[at]stat[dot]ee)

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