Record number of people visit Saaremaa, Hiiumaa over Midsummer weekend
The Saaremaa and Hiiumaa ferries transported a record number of passengers and vehicles between June 21 and 24, shipper TS Laevad reported on Tuesday. A total of 61,005 passengers and 21,130 vehicles were moved along the Virtsu-Kuivastu and Rohuküla-Heltermaa routes in just four days.
According to TS Laevad, this is a new record. In addition to a massive increase in passenger and vehicle numbers over the Midsummer weekend, Midsummer Day also stood out, with more than 18,000 people moved on a single day—also a new record.
"On the Virtsu-Kuivastu route, we moved a total of 45,563 passengers and 15,963 vehicles between Friday and Monday," the company said. "Compared to the same period last year, that is an increase of 22 and 18 percent, respectively."
Business was good on the Rohuküla-Heltermaa route to Hiiumaa as well, where passenger numbers grew by 13 percent.
The total of 61,005 people moved to the islands for Midsummer and back again means that year on year, the number of passengers has increased by 35,000, more than the permanent population of Saaremaa at 33,000 people.
TS Laevad expects the period from July 4 to 7 to be very busy as well, although this time because islanders will likely be traveling to Tallinn for the 2019 Song and Dance Celebration.
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Editor: Dario Cavegn
