Over the same period, the volume of tourists from outside Estonia rose while domestic tourism fell, as the country exited the Covid crisis and restrictions.

Statistics Estonia analyst Helga Laurmaa reported the breakdown at almost 50:50, with 129,600 foreign compared with 130,100 domestic tourists accommodated in Estonia, in September 2022.

In comparison with the previous September, Laurmaa said: "There were 74 percent more foreign tourists than in September 2021, but the number of foreign tourists was still 32 percent smaller than in September 2019 before the pandemic."

"Domestic tourism – which has increased sharply in the last few years – fell by 7 percent in September year on year, but there were 24 percent more domestic tourists than in September 2019 before the crisis," she continued, via a Statistics Estonia press release.

The largest proportion of foreign visitors in September 2022 came from Finland (47,000, up 132 percent on year) and Latvia (16,000, up 74 percent on year). While arrivals from Finland still had not reached pre-pandemic levels in September, the number of Latvian tourists was 23 percent higher than before the coronavirus arrived.

Tourists from further afield, including Germany, the UK, the US and many Asian states was still significantly smaller than before the pandemic.

Harju County, which includes Tallinn, put up the largest proportion of foreign tourists at 74 percent of the total, followed by Estonia's summer capital Pärnu (10 percent), in September 2022. Five percent of the total stayed in Tartu; 3 percent on Saaremaa.

Foreign tourists spent a total of 258,000 nights in Estonia in September.

Domestic tourism necessarily saw a fall as the country exited the pandemic, but even so, two thirds of the total stays were for vacation purposes, compared with 26 percent for business purposes.

Again, the largest share of domestic tourists (32 percent) was accommodated in Harju county, 14 percent in Pärnu county and 10 percent apiece in Ida-Viru and Tartu counties.

Domestic tourists spent a total of 214,000 nights in accommodation establishments in Estonia in September 2022.

A total of 1,096 accommodation establishments served visitors in September, 127 fewer than the preceding month.

23,000 rooms and 53,000 bed places were available for booking in September, while room occupancy stood at 43 percent, Statistics Estonia says.

The average cost of one night's accommodation in September was €45 per person, a rise of three euros on August's figure.

Harju County was the most expensive place to stay on average, at €50 per person per night, compared with €46 per person in Tarty County, €41 in Ida-Viru County, and €36-€37 on Saaremaa and in Pärnu County.

The above figures exclude those who have fled the war in Ukraine, many of whom have been put up in hotels and other accommodation establishments.

The number of foreign tourists does not include refugees from Ukraine.  

Statistics Estonia compiled the above data on behalf of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications.

More detailed information is here, here and here.

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