Tourism in Estonia is showing signs of improvement, and economists say this will be the best Christmas in years. But across the whole year, the number of foreign visitors has still not returned to pre-pandemic levels.

Data from Statistics Estonia show that tourism to Estonia is stable but still below the figures seen in 2019. One big factor is the disappearance of Russian tourists, who can no longer visit due to the visa ban imposed after the start of the war in Ukraine.

“If we look at the number of overnight stays by tourists in the first ten months, it has remained nearly the same year over year, with a 0.5 percent increase. Compared to 2019, however, the number of overnight stays is 15 percent lower. And if we exclude Russian tourists from that figure, the total number of tourists is still nearly 5 percent lower than it was before the pandemic,” said Madis Laid, chairman of the board of the Estonian Hotel and Restaurant Association.

Toward the end of the year, the tourism sector is seeing improvement, especially during the Christmas period. But the picture varies by region.

“November has shown slightly better figures compared to last year, and December is showing stronger numbers than the previous year. It is also significant that the Christmas period is better than in previous years, even better than before the pandemic. But it should also be noted that this growth, unfortunately, comes only from Harju County and Tallinn. Tartu, Pärnu, Haapsalu all still show weak figures,” said Laid.

Read more: ERR.EE