Accommodating nearly 249,000 tourists
According to Statistics Estonia, the country’s official statistics agency, in May 2022, Estonian accommodation establishments served nearly 249,000 tourists, which is 176% more than in May last year; both the number of domestic and foreign tourists increased.
For 66% of domestic tourists, the purpose of their trip was a vacation, and 26% were on business trips. The largest share of domestic tourists (31%) was accommodated in Harju County, 14% of domestic tourists stayed overnight in Pärnu County and 11% in Tartu County. Ida-Viru County accommodated 10%, and Lääne-Viru and Saare counties each housed 6% of domestic tourists.
Helga Laurmaa, an analyst at Statistics Estonia, said that nearly 117,000 foreign and 132,000 domestic tourists were accommodated in Estonia. “The number of foreign tourists grew strongly but it was still almost half below the pre-crisis level of 2019. The number of domestic tourists in accommodation establishments was 19% higher than in May 2019, setting yet another record. In no previous year have so many domestic tourists stayed in accommodation establishments in May,” Laurmaa said.
Most foreign tourists came from Finland and Latvia
Compared with May 2021, there was an increase in the number of tourists from European countries as well as from other countries outside of Europe.
The biggest number of tourists came from Finland (nearly 43,000) and Latvia (nearly 15,000), 7,000 tourists arrived from Germany and 5,000 from Lithuania. 72% of the foreign tourists were accommodated in Harju County, followed by Pärnu (10%) and Tartu (7%) counties.
In May, there were 1,043 accommodation establishments open for tourists in Estonia, which is 121 establishments more than the month before. There were 21,000 rooms and 50,000 beds available for guests. The room occupancy rate was 41%. The average cost of a guest night was €43 per person, which is €3 more than in April. The average cost of an overnight stay per person was €47 in Harju and Tartu counties, €40 in Ida-Viru County and €36 in Pärnu County. The number of foreign tourists does not include refugees from Ukraine.
