First quarter sees increase in tourists staying at Estonian hotels
According to information released by Statistics Estonia on Friday, a total of 627,000 domestic and foreign tourists stayed at Estonian accommodation establishments during the first quarter of 2017, an increase of 9 percent on year.
In the first quarter of 2017, 345,000 foreign tourists, accounting for 55 percent of the total number of tourists, used the services of accommodation establishments, a 10 percent increase over the same period last year.
72 percent of all foreign tourists to use accommodation services in Estonia came from neighboring countries, including 155,000 tourists from Finland, 63,000 from Rusia and 32,000 from Latvia. Compared to the first quarter of 2016, the number of tourists from neighboring countries increased during each of the quarter's three months. In the first quarter of 2017, 281,000 domestic tourists used the services of accommodation establishments, marking a 9 percent increase over the first quarter of 2016.
March foreign, domestic tourist numbers up
In March 2017, a total of 228,000 tourists, 126,500 of whom were foreign and 101,500 were domestic, used the services of accommodation establishments in Estonia, marking increases of 5 and 11 percent, respectively, on year. Compared to March 2016, the number of tourists arriving from Finland, Russia and Latvia increased, as did the number of tourists coming from Germany and the U.K, while number of tourists from Lithuania, Norway and Sweden decreased.
Of accommodated foreign tourists, 68 percent came to Estonia on vacation, while one fourth were traveling for business and the rest had yet another reason for visiting Estonia. Foreign tourists overwhelmingly preferred the accommodation establishments of Tallinn, accounting for 76 percent of accommodated foreign tourists, Pärnu (7 percent), Tartu (5 percent) and Ida-Viru County (4 percent).
Of accommodated domestic tourists, 61 percent were on vacation and every fourth on a business trip. 29 percent of domestic tourists who used accommodation services stayed in the accommodation establishments of Harju County, while 17 percent stayed in Pärnu County, 14 percent in Tartu County and 10 percent in Ida-Viru County.
In March of this year, 939 accommodation establishments offered services for tourists, including 19,000 rooms and 44,000 beds at respective occupancy rates of 39 and 30 percent. The average cost of a guest night was €34, an increase of one euro over March 2016 prices. The average cost of a guest night was €40 in Harju County, €33 in Tartu County, €26 in Pärnu County and €29 in Ida-Viru County.
Editor: Aili Vahtla
