Fewer Finns coming to Estonia and foreign tourism hasn't bounced back
Foreign tourism in Estonia remains 15 percent below pre-COVID levels, largely due to fewer Finnish visitors, while most of Europe has already surpassed recovery.
Finns make up as much as 42 percent of foreign tourists in Estonia, but their numbers fell by 7 percent this year compared with 2024. Other countries — Latvia, Germany, Lithuania and the United States — all showed clear growth, but their overall contribution is much smaller.
Tallinn plays the biggest role in this decline: in July, overnight stays by Finnish visitors were down 19 percent compared with the same month last year.
"The sharpest drop has been in Tallinn, where the number of Finns fell by 19 percent. Looking at Estonia as a whole, Finnish tourism in the regions actually grew by 12 percent, so the total decline is 7 percent. From tour operators, we've heard that Tallinn hosted many major international events this summer. Some Finns may have booked late and ended up staying outside the capital, which is also shown by growth in Finnish overnight stays in Harju County," said Anneli Lepp, head of tourism at the Estonian Business and Innovation Agency.
According to Lepp, the number of Finns staying outside Tallinn increased by 12 percent in July compared with a year earlier. However, overall foreign tourists are venturing outside the capital less and less.
"In the bigger picture, the gap has really widened — after COVID, most visitors are choosing Tallinn. Among the newer source markets, one example is Latvia, which has discovered Estonia with great interest since COVID. In the past, Latvians mostly went to Tartu and Pärnu, but now they are also discovering Tallinn," Lepp said.
She added that the share of Finns coming to Estonia mainly for cheap prices is decreasing.
"Compared with Finland, prices here are not yet higher, and accommodation costs remain lower. I did check Pärnu hotel rates in the Benchmarking system — in July they were indeed higher than overnight stays in Helsinki, for example. But Finns are still coming, which means our value proposition offsets the difference. I believe the share of Finns coming only for lower prices will continue to shrink, but at the same time, we have the opportunity to grow among Finns who are looking for quality. Price increases must be accompanied by better service quality," said Lepp.
Andrus Aljas, head of Estonia Spa Hotels, said their prices were at the same level as last summer.
"It was a normal summer. People came despite prices and despite the poor weather. For spa hotels, the season went normally. Pärnu works well as the summer capital and that allows us to charge a bit of a premium compared with other Estonian regions — nowhere else offers such sandy beaches and such good sea. Finns certainly appreciate this and I think they come here for exactly that reason and are willing to pay the price," Aljas said.
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Editor: Marcus Turovski, Marko Tooming
