Lots of tourists stayed in accommodation establishments in the 1st half of the year

According to Statistics Estonia, in the 1st half of 2011, nearly 1.2 million foreign and domestic tourists stayed in accommodation establishments, which was 15% more than in the same period of the previous year. The number of tourists in accommodation establishments exceeded also the first half-year result of 2008, i.e. the best year of the past decade, by 10%.

Nearly 800,000 foreign tourists stayed in accommodation establishments which was 17% more than in the first half of the previous year and one fifth more than in the first half of 2008 i.e. the best year of the past decade. In the first half-year, the number of foreign tourists increased in all main tourist regions in Northern, Western and Southern Estonia. The most popular destination was continually Tallinn, where three quarters of foreign tourists, who used the services of accommodation establishments, stayed. Compared to the first half of the previous year, more tourists arrived from all main tourism partner countries of Estonia – from Finland, Russia, Germany, Sweden, Latvia and the United Kingdom. The number of tourists from the United Kingdom and Russia increased the most (90% and 50%, respectively).

400,000 domestic tourists stayed in accommodation establishments which is 11% more than in the first half of the previous year but less than in the same period in 2007 and 2008. For domestic tourists, the favourite destinations are continually Harju and Pärnu counties, but tourists also like to stay in the accommodation establishments of Tartu and Ida-Viru counties.

This June, 1,074 accommodation establishments offered services for tourists. 294,000 domestic and foreign tourists stayed in accommodation establishments which is 17% more than in June of the previous year. 20,600 rooms and 46,900 beds were available for tourists. The room occupancy rate was 50% and the bed occupancy rate was 41%. The room occupancy rate was higher than the average in the accommodation establishments of Tallinn, Pärnu and Tartu.

The average cost of a guest night in an accommodation establishment was 29 euros being 8% more expensive compared to June 2010 but 3 euros cheaper than in June 2008.

Accommodation by regions, June 2011
Accommodation	Total	Northern Estonia	North-eastern Estonia	Central Estonia	Western Estonia	Southern Estonia
Accommodation establishments	1 074	201	61	105	380	327
Rooms	20 596	8 285	1 270	1 260	5 577	4 204
Beds	46 914	17 522	2 868	3 260	13 382	9 882
Room occupancy rate, %	50	70	36	31	39	36
Bed occupancy rate, %	41	58	33	24	33	27
Tourists accommodated	294 283	166 010	12 951	13 503	60 169	41 650
Nights spent	570 241	304 027	28 135	23 914	133 428	80 737
residents of Estonia	170 473	38 799	16 327	17 174	44 166	54 007
foreign visitors	399 768	265 228	11 808	6 740	89 262	26 730
Average cost of a guest night, euros	29	33	24	20	27	22

Today, on 10 August, at 12:00, Enterprise Estonia and Statistics Estonia hold a joint press conference in the Great Guild Hall experimentarium of the Estonian History Museum (17 Pikk St., Tallinn) focusing on the developments of Estonian tourism sector. For further information about the press conference please turn to Mr. Rivo Saarna, e-mail rivo.saarna@eurorscg.ee, tel: +372 50 65 768.

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.