The figures cover both domestic tourists and foreign tourists, with both groups seeing an increase, Statistics Estonia says.

Foreign tourists

Foreign tourists made up 60 percent of the total at 156,000 in April 2019, a 4 percent y-o-y rise, spending a total of 306,000 nights in accommodation establishments, a 1 percent rise on year.

Forty percent of foreign tourists came from Finland, 11 percent from the Russian Federation and 9 percent from Latvia. The numbers from Finland and Russia actually fell y-o-y, by 4 percent and 11 percent respectively, though the Latvian figure represented an 8 percent increase on year.

Other countries of origin with a rise in tourist numbers since the same time in 2018 included Sweden (17 percent), Lithuania (14 percent) and Germany (10 percent).

Two thirds of foreign tourists were in Estonia for a holiday, with 27 percent on business trips and the remainder for some other reason.

The bulk of the foreign tourists, 70 percent, stayed in Tallinn.

Domestic tourists

Domestic tourist numbers rose by 6 percent y-o-y, Statistics Estonia reports, spending a total of 176,00 nights in accommodation establishments.

Sixty-two percent of these were vacationing, and 26 percent were on a business trip.

As might be expected, the distribution of domestic tourists across the country was more even than with foreign tourists. Twenty-nine percent stayed in Tallinn and the rest of Harju County, with 15 percent staying in Tartu County, 14 percent in Pärnu County and 12 percent in Ida-Viru County.

Accommodation statistics

Just under 1,000 accommodation establishments took on tourists in April 2019.

Full occupancy of the 20,000 rooms and 46,000 bed places available, was far from being met, however, with 45 percent of rooms and 35 percent of bed spaces booked up in April.

Average prices

The average price of a night's stay in Estonia in April 2019 was €37, an increase of just one euro on year, according to Statistics Estonia.

The breakdown by area was:

• Harju County: €42.
• Tartu County: €41.
• Pärnu County: €31.
• Ida-Viru County: €30.

Average prices in central and western Estonia were also reportedly at the same rate as for Ida-Viru County and northeastern Estonia in general.

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The statistics were based on the questionnaire "Accommodation", to be submitted by 10 May. Statistics Estonia published the monthly summary in 18 working days, on behalf of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications.

Statistics Estonia is a government agency under the aegis of the Ministry of Finance, and provides public institutions, business and research circles, international organizations and individuals with reliable and objective information on the economic, demographic, social and environmental situation and trends in Estonia.

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