Number of foreign tourists up by 15% in November
According to Statistics Estonia, accommodation establishments served 247,000 tourists in November 2024, which is 11% more than in the same month a year earlier. There were 15% more foreign and 8% more domestic tourists.
Helga Laurmaa, leading analyst at Statistics Estonia, said that 119,000 foreign and 128,000 domestic tourists were accommodated in Estonia in November 2024. The number of domestic tourists, which was in decline for most months in 2024 year on year, took an upturn in October 2024 and continued this trend in November. Still, the number of tourists remained 6% smaller than in November of 2019, the pre-pandemic record year. “Compared with November 2019, there were 12,000 more domestic tourists accommodated, while the number of foreign tourists was lower by 27,000 in November 2024,” added Laurmaa.
Nearly 41,000 tourists arrived from Finland, representing 35% of all accommodated foreign tourists. Accommodation establishments served nearly 22,000 tourists from Latvia (18%), over 5,000 tourists from Lithuania (4%) and over 5,000 tourists also from the United Kingdom (4%). Compared with November 2023, the numbers of accommodated tourists from the neighbouring countries Finland and Latvia rose by 17% and 12%, respectively, and there were 11% more tourists from Lithuania and 10% more tourists from the UK.
In November, the majority (76%) of accommodated foreign tourists were on holiday and 19% were on business trips. 76% of foreign tourists preferred to stay overnight in Harju county, followed by Pärnu (11%), Tartu (6%) and Ida-Viru (2%) counties. Lääne, Lääne-Viru, Saare, Valga and Võru counties each accommodated 1% of foreign tourists.
In the case of accommodated domestic tourists, 69% were on holiday and 22% were on business trips. The biggest share of domestic tourists were accommodated in Harju county (35%), followed by Pärnu (14%), Tartu (11%), Ida-Viru (10%) and Valga (6%) counties.
Tourists spent a total of 448,500 nights in accommodation establishments: foreign tourists stayed for 242,100 nights and domestic tourists for 206,400 nights in total.
In November, 941 accommodation establishments served visitors in Estonia. There were 21,000 rooms and 49,000 bed places available for guests. The room occupancy rate was 44%. The average cost of a guest night was 47 euros per person, which is 2% more than in November 2023 and 19% more than in November 2019. The cost of an overnight stay per person was 54 euros in Lääne-Viru county, 51 euros in Tartu county, 49 euros in Harju county, 45 euros in Ida-Viru county, 42 euros in Saare county, and 39 euros in Pärnu county.
Statistics Estonia collects and analyses accommodation data for the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications with the aim to determine the economic situation in Estonia.
See also the dedicated section on tourism, accommodation and food service and the tourism industry dashboard.
More detailed data have been published in the statistical database.
When using Statistics Estonia’s data and graphs, please indicate the source.
For further information:
Heidi Kukk
Media Relations Manager
Marketing and Dissemination Department
Statistics Estonia
Tel +372 625 9181
press [at] stat.ee (press[at]stat[dot]ee)