Tourism in October nearly half previous year's figure
October 2020 saw a 45 percent fall in the number of tourists staying nights in Estonia compared with the same period in 2019, state agency Statistics Estonia reports, the result of the coronavirus pandemic and its restrictions. The fall in foreign tourists alone stood at 89 percent.
Helga Laurmaa, analyst at Statistics Estonia, said the bulk of those housed in accommodation establishments were domestic tourists, with only around 10 percent of the total being foreign tourists.
Laurmaa said: "The number of foreign tourists staying in Estonia has been significantly reduced by the second wave of the coronavirus and the restrictions imposed by countries which have severely affected the accommodation sector."
A total of 158,000 tourists stayed in hotels and other accommodation in October, spending a total 248,000 nights.
Breakdown
Domestic tourists numbered 139,000, spending 230,000 nights in total, Statistics Estonia reports. Domestic tourists by their nature are likely to spend fewer nights per stay than overseas ones, though they spent 16 percent overnight stays than in October 2019.
On year, domestic tourism rose 20 percent, with the largest share being accommodated in Harju county, followed by Pärnu, Tartu and Ida-Viru counties.
19,000 foreign tourists spent nights in Estonia in October, a fall of 89 percent on year.
The largest component of these were from Finland, at 5,000, with 2,500 coming from Latvia and 1,300 from Germany.
Foreign tourists spent a total of 54,000 nights in Estonia, statistics Estonia says, a fall of 85 percent on year. Foreign tourists predominantly visited the same four counties as domestic visitors.
A total of 975 hotels, guest houses and other accommodation establishments were open in October, at an average cost of €32 per guest – a €6 fall on average on the previous year.
Tartu County was slightly more expensive at €38 per night on average, compared with €32 in Harju County and €31 per night in Ida-Viru County, Statistics Estonia says.
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Editor: Andrew Whyte