TALLINN — Bad news for hotels and restaurants — despite the steady stream of Finnish tourists, a comparative advantage neither of the other two Baltic states had, 2009 was still a down year for Estonian tourism.

The number of tourists who stayed in Estonian accommodation institutions decreased in 2009 by 10 percent from the previous year, according to released results Wednesday by the country’s department of statistics. Meanwhile 4 percent less foreign tourists stayed in [private_supervisor]Estonian lodging facilities last year than in 2008. About 2.1 million people rented rooms in 2009 including domestic visitors, with 151,000 in December.

The number of tourists from Sweden decreased by 10 percent, from Norway by 13 percent and Germany by 17 percent. The number of domestic holiday and business tourists  decreased as well. However, various cultural events in the summer received visitors from the neighboring countries, increasing the number of Finnish tourists by 3 percent. The New Year’s Eve rose the number of Russian tourists by 19 percent.

Prices not too affected

Despite the drop in demand, the average hotel room price in December was 429 krooni (€27), only 42 krooni (€2.60) less than a year before.

That’s because the biggest hotels in Tallinn have not complained about the lack of visitors, and according to Peep Ehasalu, press spokesman of Sokos Hotel Viru, the hotel managed to increase the number of visitors last year by 8 percent compared to 2008, when 166,754 tourists stayed there.

“Yet, the growth of the visitors does not mean that the time is not hard, above all, everything depends on the price politics and the service quality” Ehasalu told Baltic Reports.

Girli Nurk, a press spokeswoman at the Radisson Blu downtown, would not release any numbers but admitted that some segments have decreased such as business visitors, but overall not its changed much since 2008.

“The number of business travelers decreased, but we managed to replace them with holiday tourists,” Nurk told Baltic Reports.

Nurk said that she does not expect significant improvement in 2010 but hopes that the Tallinn Capital of Culture project will bring more visitors in 2011.
[/private_supervisor] [private_subscription 1 month]Estonian lodging facilities last year than in 2008. About 2.1 million people rented rooms in 2009 including domestic visitors, with 151,000 in December.

The number of tourists from Sweden decreased by 10 percent, from Norway by 13 percent and Germany by 17 percent. The number of domestic holiday and business tourists decreased as well. However, various cultural events in the summer received visitors from the neighboring countries, increasing the number of Finnish tourists by 3 percent. The New Year’s Eve rose the number of Russian tourists by 19 percent.

Prices not too affected

Despite the drop in demand, the average hotel room price in December was 429 krooni (€27), only 42 krooni (€2.60) less than a year before.

That’s because the biggest hotels in Tallinn have not complained about the lack of visitors, and according to Peep Ehasalu, press spokesman of Sokos Hotel Viru, the hotel managed to increase the number of visitors last year by 8 percent compared to 2008, when 166,754 tourists stayed there.

“Yet, the growth of the visitors does not mean that the time is not hard, above all, everything depends on the price politics and the service quality” Ehasalu told Baltic Reports.

Girli Nurk, a press spokeswoman at the Radisson Blu downtown, would not release any numbers but admitted that some segments have decreased such as business visitors, but overall not its changed much since 2008.

“The number of business travelers decreased, but we managed to replace them with holiday tourists,” Nurk told Baltic Reports.

Nurk said that she does not expect significant improvement in 2010 but hopes that the Tallinn Capital of Culture project will bring more visitors in 2011.[/private_subscription 1 month] [private_subscription 4 months]Estonian lodging facilities last year than in 2008. About 2.1 million people rented rooms in 2009 including domestic visitors, with 151,000 in December.

The number of tourists from Sweden decreased by 10 percent, from Norway by 13 percent and Germany by 17 percent. The number of domestic holiday and business tourists decreased as well. However, various cultural events in the summer received visitors from the neighboring countries, increasing the number of Finnish tourists by 3 percent. The New Year’s Eve rose the number of Russian tourists by 19 percent.

Prices not too affected

Despite the drop in demand, the average hotel room price in December was 429 krooni (€27), only 42 krooni (€2.60) less than a year before.

That’s because the biggest hotels in Tallinn have not complained about the lack of visitors, and according to Peep Ehasalu, press spokesman of Sokos Hotel Viru, the hotel managed to increase the number of visitors last year by 8 percent compared to 2008, when 166,754 tourists stayed there.

“Yet, the growth of the visitors does not mean that the time is not hard, above all, everything depends on the price politics and the service quality” Ehasalu told Baltic Reports.

Girli Nurk, a press spokeswoman at the Radisson Blu downtown, would not release any numbers but admitted that some segments have decreased such as business visitors, but overall not its changed much since 2008.

“The number of business travelers decreased, but we managed to replace them with holiday tourists,” Nurk told Baltic Reports.

Nurk said that she does not expect significant improvement in 2010 but hopes that the Tallinn Capital of Culture project will bring more visitors in 2011.[/private_subscription 4 months] [private_subscription 1 year]Estonian lodging facilities last year than in 2008. About 2.1 million people rented rooms in 2009 including domestic visitors, with 151,000 in December.

The number of tourists from Sweden decreased by 10 percent, from Norway by 13 percent and Germany by 17 percent. The number of domestic holiday and business tourists decreased as well. However, various cultural events in the summer received visitors from the neighboring countries, increasing the number of Finnish tourists by 3 percent. The New Year’s Eve rose the number of Russian tourists by 19 percent.

Prices not too affected

Despite the drop in demand, the average hotel room price in December was 429 krooni (€27), only 42 krooni (€2.60) less than a year before.

That’s because the biggest hotels in Tallinn have not complained about the lack of visitors, and according to Peep Ehasalu, press spokesman of Sokos Hotel Viru, the hotel managed to increase the number of visitors last year by 8 percent compared to 2008, when 166,754 tourists stayed there.

“Yet, the growth of the visitors does not mean that the time is not hard, above all, everything depends on the price politics and the service quality” Ehasalu told Baltic Reports.

Girli Nurk, a press spokeswoman at the Radisson Blu downtown, would not release any numbers but admitted that some segments have decreased such as business visitors, but overall not its changed much since 2008.

“The number of business travelers decreased, but we managed to replace them with holiday tourists,” Nurk told Baltic Reports.

Nurk said that she does not expect significant improvement in 2010 but hopes that the Tallinn Capital of Culture project will bring more visitors in 2011.[/private_subscription 1 year]

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