Number of tourist accommodations up by a tenth in Estonia
11.10.2010, 10:59In the three summer months 911,000 foreign and domestic tourists stayed in accommodation establishments of Estonia, which was 10% more than at the same time of 2009. 59,000 foreign tourists and 27,000 domestic tourists more stayed in accommodation establishments than last summer, according to Statistics Estonia.
In summer 2010, 612,000 foreign tourists used the services of accommodation establishments of Estonia, which is the highest indicator in the summers of the last decade. Foreign tourists continue to account for slightly more than two thirds of the total number of tourists and they prefer mostly the accommodation establishments of Tallinn.
72,000 foreign tourists stayed in accommodation establishments of the summer capital Pärnu, of which three quarters came from Finland, 5% from Sweden and 4% from Germany. 36,000 tourists used the services of accommodation establishments of Saare county, and half of them were tourists from Finland, 14% from Latvia and 9% from Germany.
About 300,000 domestic tourists used the services of accommodation establishments, 10% more than in summer of the previous year, but less than in the same period of 2007 and 2008. Favourite destinations of domestic tourists are continually Harju and Pärnu counties, but tourists also like to stay in accommodation establishments of Ida-Viru county and Saare county.
In August, 1,027 accommodation establishments with 20,200 rooms and 46,200 beds were available for tourists. The room occupancy rate was 49%, which was 4 percentage points higher than in August of the previous year. 301,000 domestic and foreign tourists stayed in accommodation establishments of Estonia, which was 8% more than in August a year ago. Unusually hot and sunny summer also favoured travelling. It was most difficult to find a vacant hotel bed place in Tallinn (the bed occupancy rate was 67%) and in Pärnu (65%).
The average cost of a guest night in an accommodation establishment was 419 kroons (27 euros), which remained on the same level as in August of the previous year. The average cost of a guest night was the highest in Pärnu — 519 kroons (33 euros). Compared to August of the previous year, the average cost of a guest night increased there 7%. In the capital city Tallinn the average cost of a guest night was 485 kroons (31 euros), which is 4% cheaper than in August 2009.