In June, 23,611 guests stayed in Tartu accommodations. There were 11.3% more guests and 8.6% more overnight stays in June compared to the same period of the previous year.
The guests in June are almost equally divided into foreign and domestic tourists, 11,948 and 11,663 respectively. The visitors who stayed overnight in Tartu mainly come from Finland (3,975), Latvia (2006), Germany (1,592), Lithuania (552) and Great Britain (528).
If you compare June of this year with the pre-coronavirus, the number of overnight stays in Tartu is not at the same level, but 8,000 people less. However, the number of official accommodation and beds is not at the same level also.
“If we compare the current accommodation statistics with the pre-corona, we also have to take into account the fact that the situation in tourism has changed. When analyzing and talking about accommodation numbers, indicators such as occupancy, average nights spent here and cost must be taken into account, not just the total number of guests,” Tartu Tourism Manager Annika Ojasaar said. “Furthermore, the accommodation statistics do not give the total number of visitors to Tartu, because a lot of people also use short-term rental properties or spend the night with friends and acquaintances. It is already more difficult to get these data,” she added.
In 2019, there were 49 registered accommodations in the city of Tartu with 1,346 rooms, in June 2024 there were 35 and 1,105, respectively. This is 241 possible rooms and more than 500 beds less on a daily basis.
Compared to pre-coronavirus data, the average number of nights spent here by foreign visitors has increased in June, especially among Latvians, Lithuanians and Germans. Tourists stayed in Tartu for an average of 1.58 nights in the first month of summer. However, compared to June of last year, the average number of nights spent by foreign visitors is decreasing.
During the first six months, 125,098 guests have stayed in Tartu city accommodations, which is 5.5% more than last year, but 14% less than in 2019. The average number of nights stayed here during the first six months was 194,062 nights, which is 2, 3% more than in 2023, but 17% less than in 2019.
In the first six months, the occupancy of rooms in Tartu’s accommodation facilities has been quite stable compared to different years. Only February 2024 was slightly lower than the occupancy of the previous year. The occupancy of the rooms does not differ much from the pre-corona period.
The counties of South Estonia hosted a total of 60,764 guests in June, who spent a total of 104,486 nights here. 384,269 guests were accommodated throughout Estonia in June, and 16% of them were accommodated in Southern Estonia.
Additional information: Annika Ojasaar, board member of SA Tartumaa Turism, +372 5886 7883, annika.ojasaar@visittartu.com.