February accommodated tourist numbers up 4% on year

According to information released by Statistics Estonia on Monday, a total of 219,000 domestic and foreign tourists stayed at Estonia's accommodation establishments in February, 4% more than during the same month last year. The number of domestic tourists increased, while the number of foreign tourists decreased.
Compared to February 2018, the number of foreign tourists who used the services of accommodation establishments decreased by 4%. Foreign tourists accounted for 51% of the total number of tourists.
In February 2019, a total of 111,000 foreign tourists used the services of Estonian accommodation establishments. 46% of the accommodated foreign tourists came from Finland, 12% from Russia and 10% from Latvia. Compared to the same period of the previous year, more tourists arrived from Latvia and the number of tourists arriving from Finland remained steady, while the number of tourists from Russia decreased by one fifth. More tourists arrived from Germany and the UK as well. Of the accommodated foreign tourists, 62% were in Estonia on holiday, 31% were travelling for business and the rest had some other reason for visiting the country. About three quarters of foreign tourists preferred the accommodation establishments of Tallinn, Estonia's capital city.
In February, 108,000 domestic tourists stayed at the country's accommodation establishments, 15% more than during the same month last year. 63% of these were on holiday, while 23% were travelling for business. 27% of accommodated domestic tourists stayed at accommodation establishments in Harju County, 16% and 14%, respectively, in Pärnu and Tartu Counties, 11% in Ida-Viru County, and 7% in Valga County.
953 accommodation establishments in Estonia offered 200,000 rooms and 45,000 bed places for tourists at an occupancy rate of 38% and 30%, respectively.
In February 2019, the average cost of a guest night was €36, ie as expensive as in February 2018. The average cost of a guest night was €41 in Harju County, €37 in Tartu County, €33 in Ida-Viru County, and €28 in Pärnu and Valga Counties.
Editor: Aili Vahtla