31% More Overnight Stays Recorded in Estonia in Comparison to Last Year

Authorities have revealed that the number of tourists who decided to stay overnight in Estonian accommodation establishments in February 2023 remained high.

The country recorded nearly 222,000 tourist stays.

SchengenVisaInfo.com reported that according to Statistics Estonia the number of overnight tourist stays increased by 31 percent compared to last year's same period.

Helga Lurmaa is the head analyst of Statistics Estonia. She commented on the numbers, saying that 103,000 of the tourists who were hosted in Estonia during February were foreigners. The rest were domestic tourists.

In February 2019, the number of foreign tourists staying in Estonian accommodation increased by 71% compared to February 2012. The same study also revealed that the number of domestic tourists increased, but not by as much as foreigners.

"Compared with February 2022, there were 71 per cent more foreign tourists, but their number was still 15 per cent smaller than in February 2020, just before the pandemic. The number of domestic tourists rose by eight per cent year on year," the statement of Laurmaa mentions.

Statistics Estonia has revealed that in this year, the number of tourists coming from Europe was higher. Finland and Latvia were the two main countries of origin.

In February 2023, Estonia hosted more than 10,000 visitors from these two countries - almost 14,000 tourists in Latvia and nearly 48,000 tourists in Finland.

The number of tourists, including those from the United Kingdom (UK), Lithuania, Germany, Sweden and Poland, as well as the US, has also increased compared to last February.

Statistics Estonia showed that 80 percent of tourists chose to stay in Harju County. This was followed by Parnu (8%) and Tartu (6%) counties, Ida-Viru (1%) and Valga (1%) counties.

In February 2023, Statistics Estonia reported that there were 910 establishments in Estonia offering accommodation to visitors.

"There were 21,000 rooms and 47,000-bed places available for guests. The room occupancy rate was 42 per cent. The average cost of a guest night was EUR42 per person, which is EUR6 more than in February 2022 and EUR8 more than in February 2020," Statistics Estonia mentioned.

According to the same, an average overnight stay costs EUR51 per person in Laane Viru, EUR49 for Tartu, EUR45 for Harju, EUR42 for Ida Viru, and EUR35 for Parnu.

Source: schengenvisainfo.com