Deputy Mayor Joosep Vimm noted that the growth in the number of international visits and the extension of overnight stays provide a more stable market for tourism-related businesses. “According to the Bank of Estonia, international visitors left nearly 1.23 billion euros in Estonia last year. Considering Tallinn’s share in Estonian tourism, we can say that international visitors spent close to 900 million euros in Tallinn last year. To increase tourism revenue in the city, we have planned a larger budget for attracting tourists in 2024 and are making more data-driven marketing decisions,” said Vimm.
Evelin Tsirk, Head of Tallinn’s Tourism Department, acknowledges that while visitor levels have not yet rebounded to those of 2019, and the beginning of the year’s tourism numbers have yet to pick up, the tourism year as a whole could still turn out well. “According to the flight plan, the number of connections is increasing, and ferry traffic is dense. For example, connections to Sweden are better than ever before. Last year showed signs of recovery starting from more distant markets. Continuous efforts to promote and market Tallinn as a destination are ongoing daily,” explains Tsirk.
Mobile positioning data indicates that there were 2.95 million international visits to Tallinn in 2023, 14% more than the previous year but 34% less than in the pre-pandemic year of 2019. Nearly half of the international visits came from Finland (48%), followed by Latvia (9%), Germany (6%), Sweden (4%), Lithuania (4%), the United Kingdom (4%), and the USA (4%). More than half (57%) of international visits were multi-day, which is more than 10 percentage points higher than in the pre-pandemic period.
According to Statistics Estonia, 1.29 million foreign tourists stayed in Tallinn’s accommodation establishments, 15% more than in 2022 but 22% less compared to 2019. Compared to the pre-pandemic period, there was a significant increase (+55%) in the number of domestic tourists (402,000) staying in Tallinn’s accommodation establishments, making them the second largest market after Finns (515,000).
Finns accounted for the most (44%) of the foreign tourists staying in accommodation establishments, followed by Latvians (7%) and Germans (5%). Foreign tourists stayed in accommodation establishments for an average of 1.95 nights, which has increased from 2019 (1.86 nights).
The reputation of Tallinn as a travel destination remains very good among international visitors. Nearly 70% of international visitors rate Tallinn nine or ten out of a ten-point system. The survey also revealed that the willingness to recommend Tallinn as a travel destination is high.
At the end of the year, accommodation establishments offered 8,690 rooms with 18,000 bed places. The average cost per night in Tallinn’s accommodation establishments was 80 euros, peaking in December and lowest in February. The average room occupancy rate was 61%, highest in July and lowest in January.
More information can be found on the website www.tallinn.ee/et.
