In February the number of foreign tourists in accommodation establishments increased

According to Statistics Estonia, in February 72,000 foreign tourists stayed in accommodation establishments of Estonia, which is 7,000 foreign tourists more than in the same period of the previous year.

Compared to February a year ago, the number of tourists from Finland, Russia, Latvia and Lithuania increased. The number of tourists from Norway and the United Kingdom stayed on the same level as in February 2007 and the number of tourists from Sweden decreased about a quarter. In February, characteristic of winter months, a half of accommodated tourists were Estonian residents, of which about 4,000 tourists more stayed in accommodation establishments than in February a year ago.

Most of foreign tourists (90%) used the services of accommodation establishments in the Estonian cities Tallinn, Tartu and Pärnu. Domestic tourists were the main clients in counties. Foreign tourists preferred large, more expensive accommodation establishments providing extra services. In February 69% of foreign tourists stayed in large accommodation establishments with more than 100 rooms.

678 accommodation establishments with 16,200 rooms and 34,400 beds were available for tourists. The room occupancy rate was 36%. In February the average cost of a guest night in an accommodation establishment was 457 kroons. Compared to the previous year, the average cost of a guest night increased 6%. The average cost of a guest night in Tallinn was 571 kroons, in Tartu 415 kroons and in Pärnu 326 kroons. In large accommodation establishments with more than 100 rooms, the average cost of a guest night was 516 kroons.

Accommodation by regions, February 2008

Accommodation	Total	Northern Estonia	North-eastern Estonia	Central Estonia	Western Estonia	Southern Estonia
Accommodation establishments	678	159	48	54	191	226
Rooms	16 223	7 646	1 018	711	3 693	3 155
Beds	34 426	15 408	2 120	1 643	7 992	7 263
Room occupancy rate, %	36	39	31	19	35	33
Bed occupancy rate, %	28	32	26	15	28	26
Tourists accommodated	142 755	77 115	7 103	4 574	24 348	29 615
Nights spent	273 627	136 170	15 285	7 090	62 491	52 591
residents of Estonia	121 036	30 658	12 449	6 098	31 892	39 939
foreign visitors	152 591	105 512	2 836	992	30 599	12 652
Average cost of a guest night, kroons	457	560	431	336	328	368

For further information:

Helga Laurmaa
Leading Statistician
Services Statistics Service
Statistics Estonia
Tel +372 625 9261

More detailed data have been published in the Statistical Database.