Raising the competence of Tallinn as a conference destination
The first round of international conference grants will support nine conferences with more than €100 000. While last year was a record year for domestic tourism in the capital, outbound tourism is still recovering and has not yet reached the number of visitors in 2019.
2022 was a record year for tourism in Tallinn and a boom year for foreign tourism. Supporting international conferences in Tallinn during the low season will also help to reduce the seasonality of tourism. Accommodation data for Tallinn in 2022 show that the number of people staying in the city last year was on the road to recovery, large thanks to the activity of Estonians.
According to Deputy Mayor Joosep Vimm, the aim of the grant is to bring more international conferences to Tallinn and raise the competence of Tallinn as a conference destination. “The survey held among conference delegates shows that one delegate brings more than €900 to the city. This is a direct and indirect benefit for Tallinn, to the state and it will raise millions for the tourism sector,” added Vimm.
Compared to 2019, the number of domestic tourists accommodated increased by 48% to a record 384,924. While outbound tourism in Tallinn was on the rise, the results were still below the year before the pandemic. Compared to 2019, overnight stays by foreign tourists in Tallinn accommodation establishments recovered by 71%.
“Tallinn’s recovery in outbound tourism was boosted by important international accolades such as recognition as a conference city, Tallinn’s restaurants reaching the Michelin restaurant ranking, being voted Europe’s most desirable city, Tallinn’s Christmas market making it into the world’s top publications, the abundance of international sporting and cultural events held in Tallinn and a new ship on the Helsinki-Tallinn route. However, as expected, Russia’s war in Ukraine is having an impact on tourism in the region,” said Vimm.
In the neighbouring capitals, the recovery in overnight stays by foreign tourists was 65% in Helsinki, 73% in Stockholm, 59% in Vilnius and 90% in Oslo. According to the Deputy Mayor, the pace of the recovery in outbound tourism was held back by the virus restrictions at the beginning of the year and the war in Ukraine.
The aim of the grant is to help improve the recovery of the tourism sector. The biggest conference supported is the Lattitude 59 conference held in May which brings over 1500 international delegates to the technology, innovation and start-up conference. The second biggest event, the International Federation of Medical Students Association assembly, held in May will bring more than 900 delegates to the city. The event is coordinated by the Estonian Medical Students Association.
The grant is given to six trade association conferences and to three business association conferences. In addition to the two already mentioned conferences, the grant is given to the Impact Day 2023 conference which raises awareness of social and sustainable entrepreneurship, The 38th Annual ACM Symposium on Applied Computing conference which focuses on bringing new technologies to different sectors, E-Governance Conference 2023, Modern Materials and Manufacturing 2023 conference, International Symposium on Design and Diagnostics of Electronic Circuits and Systems 2023, the Lennart Meri conference directed towards international and defence policies and the NFT Tallinn 2023. All nine conferences will bring 3720 international delegates to the city.
More information about the support grant is available at https://www.visittallinn.ee/eng/professional/meetings-incentives/conference-support/general-information.
