Domestic tourism reached record levels in 2021, but foreign tourism at 1997 levels

Text Mark Taylor
Photo Andrei Chertkov

According to Statistics Estonia analyst, Helga Laurmaa “Accommodation establishments have never served so many domestic tourists in a year, but the number of foreign tourists was comparable to 1997.”

In total, hotels and guest houses accommodated a little over 2 million tourists in 2021. Although this figure is 8 per cent higher than 2020, it is 44 per cent less than in 2019.

However, despite the pandemic, the number of domestic tourists in 2021 exceeded the 2019 figures with a 3 per cent increase.

Of the foreign visitors to Estonia in 2021, the most common countries of origin were Finland (144,000 visitors), Latvia (89,000), Germany (42,000), and Russia and Lithuania (29,000)

Although foreign tourist numbers have decreased considerably during the pandemic, there are already some signs of recovery, with the number of foreign tourists in November 2021 being four times higher than in 2020. 

Source ERR

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