Statistics Estonia analyst Helga Laurmaa said that 60,000 foreign tourists and 110,000 domestic tourists were accommodated in Estonia in February, the latter figure having grown fourfold since last February, while still only half of the 2019 level.

"The number of foreign tourists was comparable to February 2009 when the Estonian hotel industry was suffering in the recession. On the other hand, there were 26 percent more domestic tourists and their number increased slightly even compared to February 2019," Laurmaa noted.

For 69 percent of domestic tourists, the purpose of their trip was holiday, while 22 percent were on business trips. The biggest share of domestic tourists (32 percent) were accommodated in Harju county. 15 percent of domestic tourists stayed overnight in Pärnu county, 12 percent in Tartu county, 9 percent in Ida-Viru county and 7 percent in Valga county. Domestic tourists spent a total of 178,000 nights in accommodation establishments.

Compared to February 2021, there was an increase in the number of tourists from European countries as well as from countries outside of Europe. One of the reasons for the significant change was again the very low reference base. The biggest number of tourists came from Finland (nearly 18,000) and Latvia (over 12,000). There were 5,000 tourists from Russia, 2,000 tourists from Lithuania and 2,000 tourists from Germany. 69 percent of the foreign tourists were accommodated in Harju county, followed by Pärnu (13 percent), Tartu (7 percent), Ida-Viru (3 percent) and Valga (2 percent) counties. Foreign tourists spent a total of 123,000 nights in Estonia.

In February, there were 919 accommodation establishments open for tourists in Estonia, which is 31 establishments more than in February 2021. There were about 20,000 rooms and 45,500 bed places available for guests. The room occupancy rate was 32 percent.

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