Estonia reported a 5% increase in tourists last year, to 3.6 million, however visitor numbers are still below the pre-pandemic level of 2019.
According to the Statistics Estonia data, close to 1.86 million foreign tourists and nearly 1.76 million domestic tourists were accommodated in Estonia in 2024.
Year-on-year increase
“Compared with 2023, there were 11% more foreign tourists, while the number of domestic tourists remained at the same level,” commented Helga Laurmaa, leading analyst at Statistics Estonia. “If we compare last year’s figures to 2019, which was the pre-pandemic record year, the number of accommodated domestic tourists has increased by over 200,000 but, at the same time, the number of foreign tourists has decreased by almost 400,000.”
Some 696,000 tourists arrived from Finland, with tourist numbers from Estonia’s neighbour at a similar level to 2023, but 13% lower than before the pandemic.
Tourist arrivals from Latvia, meanwhile, rose to nearly 251,000, up by 9% from 2023 and 37% higher than 2019. Other countries in the top five included Germany (117,000), Lithuania (81,000), and the United Kingdom (70,000).
Domestic tourist numbers remained at a similar level to 2023, Statistics Estonia added, while growing 14% compared to 2019.
In terms of the destinations most popular among arrivals, 73% of foreign tourists and 29% of domestic tourists stayed in Harju County, which is home to the capital, Tallinn, followed by Pärnu, Tartu, Ida-Viru, and Saare.
Overall, tourists spent 6.65 million nights in Estonian tourist accommodation last year, which incudes 3.67 million nights by foreign tourists and 2.98 million nights by domestic tourists.
Tourists in December 2024
Taking December 2024 alone, Estonia recorded 280,000 tourists for the month, with a total of 515,000 overnight stays. Compared to December 2023, the number of domestic tourists increased by 2% and the number of foreign tourists by 5%.
“In December 2024, there were 933 accommodation establishments open for tourists, with 21,000 rooms and 48,000 bed places available for guests,” Laurmaa added. “The room occupancy rate was 46%. The average cost of a guest night was €49 per person, which is the same as in December 2023 and 29% more expensive than in December 2019.” Read more here.
