10.10.2022 | Estonia

The number of foreign tourists visiting Estonia continued to climb towards pre-pandemic levels in August

Text Mark Taylor
Photo Andrei Chertkov

According to Statistics Estonia, in August 2022, Estonian accommodation establishments served nearly 420,000 tourists, which is 23 per cent more than in August last year. While the number of foreign tourists continued to close in on pre-pandemic levels, the number of domestic tourists fell.

Nearly 189,000 foreign and 231,000 domestic tourists were accommodated in Estonia in August. “There were 94 per cent more foreign tourists than in August 2021. However, the number of foreign tourists was still 34 per cent smaller than in August 2019 before the pandemic. Domestic tourist numbers have grown rapidly in recent years, but in August 2022, the number of domestic tourists was 6 per cent lower than in August last year, although 15 per cent higher than in August 2019 before the crisis,” explained Helga Laurmaa, an analyst at Statistics Estonia.

Compared with August 2021, there was an increase in the number of tourists from European countries as well as from countries outside Europe. The largest share of foreign visitors to Estonia came from Finland (36 per cent of all foreign tourists), followed by Latvia (13 per cent of foreign tourists). The number of tourists from these neighbouring countries travelling to Estonia was 223 per cent and 62 per cent higher than in August last year respectively.

67 per cent of the foreign tourists were accommodated in Harjumaa, followed by Pärnumaa (13 per cent ), Tartumaa (6 per cent ), and Saaremaa (5 per cent ).

In August, the average cost of an overnight stay was 42 euros per person, which is one euro less than in July. The average cost of an overnight stay per person was 48 euros in Harjumaa, 44 euros in Tartumaa, 43 euros in Pärnumaa, 39 euros in Ida-Virumaa, and 37 euros in Saaremaa.