Analytics, Baltic States – CIS, EU – Baltic States, Good for Business, Lithuania, Tourism

Foreign visitors' personal trips with one or more overnight stay made up 71.6%, business trips – 28.4%. In 2017, against 2016, the number of personal trips increased by 9, that of business trips – 12.2%. Men travelled to Lithuania more often – they made up 57.5% of all inbound tourists. Most tourists (41%) stated that the main sources of information about Lithuania were friends and relatives. Every second foreign visitor visited Lithuania for the first time.

More than half of foreigners (54%) arrived by road, while others arrived by air (41%), railway (3%), and sea (2%).

In 2017, most foreign overnight visitors arrived from Belarus (432.1 thousand, or 17.1%), Latvia (307.5 thousand, or 12.2%), Russia (256.8 thousand, or 10.2%), Poland (218 thousand, or 8.6%) and Germany (213.5 thousand, or 8.5%). The number of trips to Lithuania from the EU countries increased by 8.4%, from other countries – by 11.9%. In 2017, tourists from the EU countries accounted for 56.4% of all inbound tourists.

In 2017, the same as in 2016, the average duration of a foreigner’s stay in Lithuania was 4.3 nights. In 2017, compared to 2016, the number of shorter trips (1–3 overnight stays) increased by 16.9%; such trips accounted for 72.8% of all overnight trips, while trips with 4 and more overnight stays decreased by 5.2%. In 2017, the total number of nights spent totalled 10.8 million and, compared to 2016, increased by 8.6%.

In 2017, average expenditure per foreign overnight visitor in Lithuania amounted to about EUR 345.4, which is by 1.7% less than in 2016. The highest expenditure per tourist trip was recorded for tourists from the Ireland, Australia, Kazakhstan and Netherlands – about EUR 578 per trip with 6 overnight stays, the lowest – for tourists from Latvia and Estonia – EUR 218 per trip with 4 overnight stays. In 2017, the total expenditure of foreigners on trips with one or more overnight stays amounted to EUR 871.5 million, which is by 8.1% more than in 2016.

Half of arriving foreigners (56%) indicated that they had stayed in hotels and motels, 36% – at relatives’ and friends’. The most popular places visited by foreign tourists were Vilnius – 68%, Kaunas – 24%, Klaipėda – 17%, Trakai – 13%, and Palanga – 6%. Almost all (96%) foreign tourists gave a very good or good assessment to their trips to Lithuania.

Foreigners usually went to same-day trips for shopping (32%) or for business purposes (25%). In 2017, same-day visitors in Lithuania spent EUR 297.1 million, which is by 3% more than in 2016. Half (49%) of expenditure consisted of expenditure on shopping. Average expenditure per same-day trip of a foreigner totalled EUR 97.

In 2017, most same-day visitors arrived from Latvia (1 million, or 34.1%), Poland (566.6 thousand, or 18.5%), Belarus (536.0 thousand, or 17.5%), Russia (459.1 thousand, or 15%), and Estonia (205.7 thousand, or 6.7%).

Inbound tourism

Note.  In the table, deviation due to rounding is possible. 

For more information, see the Database of Indicators.