The figures show 275,000 tourists stayed overnight in October 2024, which is 9 percent more than in the same month a year earlier.

Helga Laurmaa, leading analyst at Statistics Estonia, said that the number of accommodated tourists was still 5 percent lower than in October of 2019, the pre-pandemic record year.

Compared with October 2019, there were 30,000 fewer foreign tourists accommodated in Estonia, while the number of domestic tourists was higher by 16,000 in October this year. 143,000 foreign and 132,000 domestic tourists were accommodated in Estonia in October 2024.

"The number of domestic tourists, which in 2024 has been in decline for most months year on year, took an upturn in October," Laurmaa noted.

Nearly 58,000 tourists came from Finland, representing 40 noted of all accommodated foreign tourists. Accommodation establishments served almost 22,000 tourists from Latvia (15 percent), 8,000 tourists from Germany (5 percent) and over 6,000 tourists from Lithuania (4 percent).

Compared with October 2023, the numbers of accommodated tourists from the neighbouring countries Finland and Latvia rose by 4,400 and 2,100, respectively, and the number of German tourists grew by 1,800.

In October, the majority (76 percent) of accommodated foreign tourists were on holiday and 18 percent were on business trips. 76 percent of foreign tourists preferred to stay overnight in Harju county, followed by Pärnu (10 percent), Tartu (6 percent), Ida-Viru (2 percent) and Saare (2 percent) counties.

In the case of accommodated domestic tourists, 67 percent were on holiday and 23 percent were on business trips. The biggest share of domestic tourists were accommodated in Harju county (34 percent), followed by Pärnu (13 percent), Ida-Viru (11 percent) and Tartu (10 percent) counties.

Tourists spent a total of 519,000 nights in accommodation establishments: foreign tourists stayed for 295,000 nights and domestic tourists for 224,000 nights in total.

In October, 960 accommodation establishments served visitors in Estonia. There were 22,000 rooms and 50,000 bed places available for guests. The room occupancy rate was 47 percent.

The average cost of a guest night was €46 per person, which is 2 percent more than in October 2023 and 2 1percent more than in October 2019.

The cost of an overnight stay per person was €52 in Tartu county, €49 in Saare county, €48 in Harju county, €43 in Ida-Viru county, and €41 in Pärnu county.

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