In October, the number of tourists in accommodation establishments decreased
According to Statistics Estonia, more than 251,000 tourists stayed in accommodation establishments in October 2023, which is 7% less than in October last year and 8% less than in September this year. Year on year, accommodation establishments hosted fewer foreign as well as domestic tourists.
Helga Laurmaa, leading analyst at Statistics Estonia, said that 124,000 foreign tourists were accommodated in Estonia in October. “Compared with October last year, 5% fewer foreign tourists stayed in accommodation establishments, and the number of foreign tourists was more than a quarter (28%) below the pre-crisis level of October 2019,” Laurmaa added. 127,000 domestic tourists stayed in accommodation establishments, which is 9% less than in October last year, but 9% more than in 2019 before the pandemic.
The highest number of accommodated tourists arrived from Finland, accounting for 43% of foreign tourists. Finland was followed by Latvia (16%), Germany (5%) and Lithuania (4%). Compared with October 2022, there were more accommodated tourists from many European countries as well as from countries further away. The number of Lithuanian tourists increased by 6%, Latvian tourists by 3% and German tourists by 10%. Compared with October of the previous year, the number of tourists arriving from Asian countries rose by 51%. However, fewer tourists than a year earlier arrived in Estonia from Finland, Sweden and Poland.
73% of the foreign tourists were on holiday and 20% were travelling on business. Three quarters of the foreign tourists stayed in accommodation establishments 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 the foreign tourists. Foreign travellers spent nearly 264,000 nights in total in Estonia.
In the case of domestic tourists, 67% were on holiday and 23% were on business trips. The largest share (a third) of domestic tourists was accommodated in Harju county, 13% in Pärnu county, 12% in Tartu county and 11% in Ida-Viru county. Domestic tourists spent a total of 214,000 nights in accommodation establishments.
In October, 979 accommodation establishments served visitors in Estonia (117 fewer than in September). There were 21,000 rooms and nearly 50,000 bed places available for guests. The room occupancy rate was 44%. The average cost of a guest night was 45 euros per person, which is 1 euro more than in October 2022 and 7 euros more than in October 2019. The average cost of a guest night increased by 2% year on year. The average cost of an overnight stay per person was 48 euros in Harju and Lääne-Viru counties, 46 euros in Tartu county, 45 euros in Ida-Viru county, 44 euros in Saare county, 42 euros in Lääne county and 40 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:
Kai Kaljumäe
Communications Partner
Marketing and Dissemination Department
Statistics Estonia
Tel +372 625 9184
press [at] stat.ee (press[at]stat[dot]ee)