Viru, the street every tourist in Old Town walks on, is packed as ever this July. Photo by Michael Smotters.
TALLINN — In a turnaround from last year’s doldrums, Estonian tourism is on the up-and-up this summer.
In 2009, the number of tourists went down by 10 percent, but this May brings good news for the hospitality industry — the number of foreign and domestic tourists who stayed in Estonian lodging facilities is up by 11 percent to 213,000 tourists compared to the same period last year, Statistics Estonia announced Friday.
As usual Tallinn dominates, with 70 percent of the foreigners heading there for a holiday.
Mostly the number of tourists from the neighboring countries of Finland, Russia, and Latvia. The number of German tourists also increased, while those from Sweden and Norway is down.
Domestic tourism is up 7 percent, too, made up primarily of people from other parts of the country visiting Tallinn.
Accommodation prices lower
Despite the higher demand, the average hotel room price in May was 433 krooni (€28), which is 10 percent cheaper than a year ago. In Tallinn the average cost was 503 krooni (€32), 15 percent cheaper than last year.
Helga Laurmaa, leading statistician at Statistics Estonia said that cheaper prices are one of those reasons why the number of tourists is increasing, as local hoteliers are becoming more accustomed to the culture of discounts and special deals that pervades Western tourism.
“The better the offers are, the more clients they get,” Laurmaa told Baltic Reports. “Also the end of economic crisis is raising its head.”
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