Ministry adviser: Outlook for Estonia's tourism sector is good

TALLINN - Latest statistics show that more people stayed in Estonia's accommodation establishments in February 2025 than it the same month last year, which confirms both the good health of domestic tourism and the gradual return of foreign tourists, Aleksandr Michelson, tourism adviser at the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications, said on Thursday.

For the first time, the number of overnight stays reached pre-crisis levels and even exceeded them on a monthly basis. Domestic tourists made a major contribution to growth. While foreign tourists spent slightly fewer nights in Estonia, their numbers increased by 3 percent, which Michelson believes gives the sector a strong outlook for further growth.

"The number of overnight stays also exceeds the pre-crisis years. In February 2019, 219,000 overnight stays were registered, 232,000 in February 2020, and 225,000 in February of last year. The figure for 2025 is 230,000. This means that we are almost recovering, even compared to the peak set just before the COVID crisis," the adviser noted.

The data also show an interesting change: although there are more foreign tourists being accommodated than before, they are spending slightly fewer nights here. Nevertheless, the total number of overnight stays by foreign tourists is at the same level as in February 2019. However, in January 2025, foreign tourists spent 10 percent more nights in accommodation establishments than in the same month last year.

Michelson pointed out that in February, visitors from Finland spent the most nights in Estonia, speaking of foreign tourists, accounting for as much as 39 percent of all foreign tourist nights. They were followed by tourists Latvia with 14 percent, the United Kingdom with 5 percent, and Germany with 4 percent. According to the advisor, this means that Estonia is a strongly preferred travel destination for its neighbors and two major European markets.

Domestic tourists accounted for nearly half of all overnight stays, on a par with last year. However, compared to 2019, there was a notable increase of 16 percent. Altogether 120,000 domestic tourists stayed in accommodations during the month, 2 percent more than in February 2024 and 11 percent more than in 2019. These trends show that more and more Estonians prefer to spend their holidays or take short weekend trips within Estonia, the adviser explained.

The recovery in tourism that has been going on for several years now demonstrates that Estonia continues to be attractive as a destination to both its own residents and foreign tourists.

"The strong recovery in domestic tourism figures and the recovery in the number of foreign tourists staying in Estonia support the performance of accommodation establishments, food service and other tourism-related businesses and give grounds to forecast solid sustainable growth for the sector," he added.