Tourism, accommodation and food service

Travelling is a great way to see life in neighbouring countries or in faraway places. Hundreds of millions of people travel every day – for work, vacation or to broaden one’s horizons. Visa-free travel in the Schengen area and the adoption of the euro have encouraged people to visit Estonia and made it easier for Estonian people to travel abroad. World Tourism Day is celebrated each year on September 27.

Statistics Estonia publishes the following tourism statistics:

  • travelling of Estonian residents, including number of domestic and foreign trips, purposes of trips, destination countries and expenditures on trips;
  • accommodated tourists and their nights spent;
  • number of accommodation establishments, rooms and bed places;
  • border crossings of non-residents, including their countries of residence, purposes of visit and expenditures on the trip;
  • economic indicators of tourism, accommodation and food service activities.

In-depth knowledge on tourism volumes, the characteristics of tourists and costs and benefits for the national economy allow assessing the role of tourism in general economic development. Evaluating the impact of seasonal demand helps to develop a strategy for alleviating seasonality. The statistics on border crossings are an important basis for developing tourism, as they provide information on the countries of residence of tourists and their reasons for visiting.

Domestic overnight trips of Estonian residents 1,134.4 thousands
22.7%
Q3 2023
Outbound overnight trips of Estonian residents 494.0 thousands
30.7%
Q3 2023
Expenditure on domestic overnight trips of Estonian residents 198.0 euros
-0.2%
Q3 2023
Expenditure on outbound overnight trips of Estonian residents 958.7 euros
1.8%
Q3 2023
Accommodated tourists in accommodation establishments 193,953
-1.3%
JANUARY 2024
Accommodation establishments 901
-1.3%
JANUARY 2024
Rooms in accommodation establishments 20,566
0.3%
JANUARY 2024
Bed places in accommodation establishments 46,880
0.2%
JANUARY 2024
Nights spent by accommodated tourists 354,167
-2.6%
JANUARY 2024
Outbound and domestic overnight trips of Estonian residents | 2009–2022
Capacity of accommodation establishments | 2014 – 2022
Number of accommodation establishments Number of bedrooms Number of bed places
2014 1,419 23,971 58,095
2015 1,417 23,754 58,072
2016 1,454 24,503 59,471
2017 1,500 25,222 61,663
2018 1,535 24,983 61,193
2019 1,424 25,168 60,957
2020 1,327 24,556 59,640
2021 1,324 24,489 59,486
2022 1,337 25,415 61,971

Overnight domestic trips of Estonian residents by main purpose of trip | 2009 – 2022
Unit: thousand
Total Professional, business Holidays, leisure and recreation Visits to friends and relatives Other
2009 881.5 93.1 317.8 459.8 ..
2010 1,925.6 113.4 725.8 1,073.2 ..
2011 1,561.2 147.3 519.0 879.5 ..
2012 1,761.1 157.1 685.0 899.1 ..
2013 1,733.6 177.2 676.2 866.9 13.3
2014 2,572.3 316.3 831.5 1,406.4 18.2
2015 2,704.4 321.7 1,029.7 1,275.2 77.7
2016 3,253.6 427.0 1,265.6 1,485.3 75.7
2017 3,276.7 406.3 1,366.5 1,376.3 127.6
2018 4,399.1 445.1 2,030.9 1,795.2 127.8
2019 3,486.3 410.9 1,600.6 1,330.3 144.5
2020 2,135.6 190.1 1,198.7 689.4 57.5
2021 2,266.5 206.4 1,354.6 633.8 71.7
2022 2,639.9 253.6 1,523.6 767.0 95.7

Outbound overnight trips of Estonian residents by main purpose of trip | 2009 – 2022
Unit: thousand
Total Professional, business Holidays, leisure and recreation Visits to friends and relatives Other
2009 752.1 150.2 371.7 211.4 ..
2010 955.2 137.4 598.7 219.1 ..
2011 1,054.2 232.3 457.8 359.6 ..
2012 1,146.8 236.9 574.7 312.4 22.8
2013 1,165.8 272.4 652.4 233.4 ..
2014 1,425.5 395.6 701.1 311.2 17.6
2015 1,249.9 338.9 686.8 213.2 ..
2016 1,339.3 422.7 684.6 223.3 ..
2017 1,279.4 318.9 753.0 194.6 ..
2018 2,068.5 502.0 1,228.4 305.1 33.0
2019 1,701.5 400.3 999.6 251.4 50.2
2020 558.1 140.7 337.8 65.3 ..
2021 574.5 135.5 335.8 89.2 ..
2022 1,090.0 162.6 722.2 161.1 44.1

News

Foreign tourists have found their way back to Estonia

According to Statistics Estonia, in 2023, Estonian accommodation establishments served over 3.43 million tourists, which is 5% more than in 2022. The number of foreign tourists increased last year, while the number of domestic tourists decreased.
Read more 8. February 2024