Record number of domestic tourists accommodated in July
In July 2021, Estonian accommodation establishments served 381,000 tourists, which is a tenth more than in the same month last year, data from Statistics Estonia shows.
The number of domestic tourists increased compared to both July 2020 and July 2019, while the number of foreign tourists remained significantly smaller than in previous years.
Helga Laurmaa, analyst at Statistics Estonia, said there were still travel restrictions due to the coronavirus, which prevented a rise in tourism and the number of foreign tourists visiting Estonia was significantly lower than in the summer before the crisis.
"In July 2019, domestic tourists represented 37 percent and foreign tourists 63 percent of accommodated guests. However, in July this year, 78 percent of the accommodated guests were domestic tourists and just 22 percent were foreign tourists," added Laurmaa.
In July, accommodation establishments served 296,000 domestic tourists, which is 41 percent more than in the same month last year and 51 percent more than in 2019 before the coronavirus crisis.
The number of foreign tourists decreased for the second year in a row: in July this year, there were 85,000 foreign tourists, compared to 136,000 in July 2020 and 328,000 in July 2019.
As usual, the largest numbers of foreign tourists came from the neighbouring countries - 24,000 from Finland and 13,000 from Latvia. 6,100 tourists traveled to Estonia from Germany, 4,700 tourists came from Lithuania and 3,400 from Russia.
Only the number of tourists arriving from Russia increased year on year.
Tourists spent a total of 701,000 nights in accommodation establishments, with domestic tourists accounting for 520,000 and foreign tourists for 181,000 nights spent. The majority of tourists preferred to stay overnight in Harju County, followed by Pärnu and Tartu counties.
In July, there were 1,211 accommodation establishments open for tourists in Estonia, which is 2 percent less than last year and 14 percent less than in 2019. There were 22,800 rooms and 54,300 bed places available for guests. The room occupancy rate was 46 percent.
The average cost of a guest night was €36 per person, which is €4 more than in the same month last year. The average cost of an overnight stay per person was €42 in Pärnu County, €41 in Tartu County and €39 in Harju and Saare counties.
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Editor: Helen Wright
