Estonia, Good for Business, Tourism

In the first five months of the year 1.1 mln tourists stayed overnight in Estonia and the total number of overnight stays was nearly 2 mln. The number of overnight stays of Finnish tourists increased 6 % and the overnight stays of other foreign tourists grew 5%. Head of the tourism development center at Enterprise Estonia, Toomas Tark, the visits of tourists to Estonia have increased also in June and July.

"Occupancy rates of hotels have been around 90%," he said.

In addition to more people visiting Tallinn, Tartu and Parnu, the number of people arriving in Tallinn by sea has also grown. In the first half of the year the number of people entering Estonia through the Port of Tallinn has increased by 5% to 4.6 mln passengers.

"This year will be the best ever," Tark forecasts. So far the best year for Estonian tourism was 2014. In reality the growth in the number of people visiting Estonia is even bigger as the statistics do not take into account people staying in other people's homes or in rental apartments. It has been said that up to 30% of accommodation takes place outside official accommodation establishments.

In addition to Finnish tourists, the number of Latvian and Russian tourists visiting Estonia has also increased.