Ministry Ponders How to Get Foreign Tourists Beyond Tallinn
The Cabinet is currently putting together a national tourism industry development plan for the years 2014-2020 in order to, among other things, attract visitors from overseas out of Tallinn to Southern Estonia.
The majority of the travel sector income is generated in Tallinn, as 67 percent of overnight stays of foreign travelers in Estonia were last year recorded in Tallinn, ETV radio reported.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Enterprise Estonia invited a number of industry representatives from South Estonia to the ministry today to discuss the problems that can hamper development of tourism services in the region.
Martti Kavik, a domestic marketing specialist at the ministry said that the objective of the development plan is to attract more travelers to Estonia, extend the duration of their stay and get them to visit places beyond Tallinn.
Kätlin Kuzentsova, head of South Estonian tourism at Enterprise Estonia said that the southern counties are indeed very competitive as domestic tourism destinations.
But due to the lack of transport connections, the region is not yet as attractive to foreign tourists, Kuznetsova said, the nearest seaport being a few hundred kilometers, and although there is a functioning airport in Tartu, the latter only serves direct passenger flights from Tallinn and Helsinki.
Ingrid Teesalu