Russian tourist numbers took 45 percent nosedive in Christmas season
According to Statistics Estonia, more than 3 million domestic and foreign tourists stayed in commercial lodging last year, which was 4 percent more than in 2013. The number of both foreign and domestic tourists increased. But the numbers of Russian Federation tourists were 10 percent down, including a 45 percent drop in December.
Last year, 2 million foreign tourists stayed in Estonian hotels and hostels, an increase of two percent compared to 2013.
Forty-six percent of the foreign tourists arrived from Finland, 14 percent from Russia and 6 percent from both Latvia and Germany. Compared to 2013, the number of tourists arriving from Finland and Latvia increased by 2 percent and 7 percent, respectively. There was also an increase of the tourists from Lithuania, Germany and the United Kingdom.
The number of tourists arriving from Asian countries increased throughout the entire year, but one-tenth fewer tourists from Russia stayed in Estonia, compared to the previous year. More than a million domestic tourists also used local accommodation facilities, which was 6 percent more than in 2013.
As of December 2014,19,000 rooms and 42,000 beds were available for tourists in Estonia. In December, the room occupancy rate was 37 percent and the bed occupancy rate was 30 percent.
The average cost of a guest night was 35 euros, which is two euros more than in December 2013.