Tourism in Estonia: third year in a row - record

Last year, 1.87 million foreign tourists stayed in Estonian hotels and residences. Compared to 2011, their number increased by 65,600 people (3.6%). According to a report by the Estonian Statistics Department, the number of nights spent by foreigners in Estonian hotels also increased by 2% to 3.82 million. The noted increase in tourist flow to the country for the third year in a row beats previously established records. In 2010 and 2011, the number of foreign tourists increased by 17% every year.

“The good performance of last year, especially the first half, was achieved thanks to the same factors that played a role in the previous year: the opening of new air routes, the great media importance of Tallinn as the European Capital of Culture, the market activity of the public and private sectors of the economy, as well as the overall development of tourism in Europe,” said Tarmo Muts, Director of the Estonian Tourism Development Centre.

Thanks to the growth of tourist activity, revenues to the treasury in this industry have grown, setting another record. According to the Bank of Estonia, the total check paid by tourists in 2012 amounted to EUR 1.24 billion. This is 2.7% (32 million euros) more than the year before, and those figures were the best in the history of the country. This amount includes accommodation (over EUR 950 million or +6%), services of Estonian transport companies (286 million EUR or - 6.6%), sales of Estonian goods and services to foreign citizens (up 7.4%).

In 2012, as in the previous year, the tourist flow from Russia increased the most – both in terms of the number of tourists and the number of nights spent by our citizens in Estonian hotels. This was largely due to the general trend of growth of foreign tourism, as well as the activity of private and public Estonian companies in the Russian tourism market. Another factor is the new transport opportunities that opened up in 2012 and also made a significant contribution to this process. In 2012, Estonia was visited by 266,192 tourists from Russia, which is 31% more than in the previous year. Since the growth in the number of Russian tourists increases every year, outpacing the growth rates of other countries, the share of Russians in the total tourist flow is gradually increasing. In 2007, Russian tourists staying in Estonian hotels accounted for only 2% of the total number of foreigners. Since then, it has grown continuously, and in 2012 this figure reached 15.5%.

In turn, the share of Finnish tourists to Estonia in 2012 decreased by 1.4% (total - 829,225 people) compared to the previous year. The decrease in their activity may be due to the increase in the cost of accommodation, as hotel prices rose in 2012 to almost pre-crisis levels, influenced by overall economic growth and increased demand. Overall, Finns’ share of the total inbound tourism market has fallen to a record low: Finnish tourists now account for 43%, up from 67% in 1999.

The tourist flow from Germany, the third most important for Estonia, has also been growing for the third consecutive year. In 2012, it reached another record value: the number of tourists - 111.251 - increased by 7% compared to 2011. In absolute terms, the number of German tourists staying in Estonian hotels is highest in Tallinn. The second most popular city is Tartu.
But for Latvians, Tartu and its surroundings in 2012 turned out to be the most attractive Estonian region: it was here that the maximum increase in the number of tourists from Latvia was noted. The total number of guests from this Baltic country in Estonia increased by 18% compared to 2011 and amounted to 100,638 people.

As for other countries that influence the formation of tourist flow to the country, it should be noted, first of all, Sweden and the UK. In 2012, the Swedes traveled abroad more often, including to the Baltic States, but the number of nights they spent on a trip decreased. This trend was noted not only in Estonia, but also in Latvia, Lithuania and Finland. But the number of tourists from England decreased compared to 2011. This can be explained by the fact that the previous year brought almost doubling of tourist flow from Albion due to new flights. But after those messages were shut down in 2012, the flow declined again.

Among the countries whose tourists do not have much influence on Estonian inbound tourism, but are potentially very interesting, the United States can be noted: the number of visitors from America to Estonia increased by 24% in 2012 to 29,601 people. This growth can be explained by the steady trend of Americans to travel to Europe in recent years.