Domestic tourism helped Estonian accommodation establishments

According to Helga Laurmaa, analyst at Statistics Estonia, the number of tourists in accommodation establishments started to increase gradually in June. “Compared to the previous months, domestic tourism is recovering faster, but open borders with several countries contributed also to the number of foreign tourists. In June, 42,000 foreign tourists stayed in our accommodation establishments, which is still 84% less than in June last year,” said Laurmaa.

Most foreign tourists who used the services of accommodation establishments came from the neighbouring countries: 48% came from Finland, 25% from Latvia and 9% from Lithuania. Three quarters of foreign tourists came to Estonia for holiday, 19% came on business and the rest had some other reason for visiting. Foreign tourists spent 83,000 nights in Estonia, which is 83% less than in June 2019. Of foreign tourists, 54% stayed in the accommodation establishments of Harju county, 22% in Pärnu county and 7% in Tartu and Saare counties each.

Accommodation establishments served 121,000 domestic tourists, whose nights spent totalled 218,000. Compared to June 2019, the number of domestic tourists decreased by a fifth and their nights spent by 17%. Of the domestic tourists, 74% were on holiday and 13% were on a business trip. The largest share, i.e. 23% of domestic tourists stayed in Pärnu county, 15% stayed in Harju county, 14% Ida-Viru county and 9% in Tartu county.

In June, 1,198 accommodation establishments were available for tourists. The average cost of a guest night was 30 euros. Compared to June 2019, the cost was significantly lower. In Tartu county, the average cost of a guest night was 40 euros, in Harju county 35 euros, in Pärnu county 31 euros and in Ida-Viru county 29 euros.

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.