Helga Laurmaa, leading analyst at Statistics Estonia, said that nearly 119,000 domestic tourists were accommodated in Estonia in November. “The number of domestic tourists was 3% higher than in 2019 before the pandemic, but 1% lower than in November 2022. Nearly 104,000 foreign tourists stayed in accommodation establishments, which is 29% less than in November 2019 and 2% less than in the same month in 2022,” Laurmaa noted.
The largest share of accommodated foreign tourists arrived from Finland (34%), followed by Latvia (19%), the United Kingdom and Lithuania (5% each), and Germany (4%). Compared with November 2022, there were more accommodated tourists from many European countries as well as from countries further away. The number of tourists from Latvia increased by 12%, from the UK by 39%, and from Lithuania by 4%. The number of German tourists remained at the same level as last year. Compared with November 2022, the number of visitors arriving from Asian countries rose by 38%. However, fewer tourists arrived in Estonia from Finland and Sweden.
71% of the foreign tourists were on holiday and 23% were travelling on business. 76% of the foreign visitors stayed in accommodation establishments in Harju county, followed by Pärnu county (10%), Tartu county (6%), and Ida-Viru and Saare counties (both 2%). Lääne, Lääne-Viru, Valga and Võru counties each accommodated 1% of the foreign tourists. Foreign travellers spent nearly 211,000 nights in total in Estonia.
In the case of domestic tourists, 67% were on holiday and 24% were on business trips. The largest share of domestic tourists (35%) was accommodated in Harju county, 13% in both Pärnu and Tartu counties, and 10% in Ida-Viru county. In total, domestic tourists spent 193,000 nights in accommodation establishments.
In November, 953 accommodation establishments served visitors in Estonia (26 fewer than in October). There were 21,000 rooms and nearly 49,000 bed places available for guests. The room occupancy rate was 40%. The average cost of a guest night was 46 euros per person, which is 1 euro more than in November 2022 and 7 euros more than in November 2019. The average cost of a guest night increased by 2% year on year.
The average cost of an overnight stay per person was 50 euros in Lääne-Viru county, 49 euros in Harju and Tartu counties, 46 euros in Ida-Viru county, 43 euros in Lääne county, 38 euros in Saare county, and 37 euros in Pärnu county.