Estonia’s spa hotels become more and more popular with Russians
In 2011 Estonian consular services issued 108 thousand visas to the Russians, which is 17% more compared to previous figures. And with the holders of multi-visas included, Estonia was visited by slightly over 200 thousand Russian tourists – 43% more compared to 2010. In the number of arrivals our country took the second place after Finland. These are the figures presented by Estonian Tourism Development Center.
Most Russian guests have been visiting Tallinn. The share of spa hotels out of all Russian overnights in 2011 reached 35% (+2% year-on-year). The most modest growth (+10% year-on-year) was recorded in November. The record was beaten in April, when the country welcomed 102% more Russian tourists than in April 2010.
According to official statistics, in 2011 Estonia was visited by 16% more foreigners than in 2010. The country’s hotels lodged 1.8 million guests, of which 840 thousand came from Finland. Considerable tourist flows were recorded from Germany (103 thousand) and Sweden (86 thousand).
Mr. Tynu Steinberg, Estonian Tourism Development Center’s Moscow office representative, drew attention to the Russian’s growing interest in New Year holidays in Estonia. Besides, the country strengthened its positions as a shopping destination. The expert sees it as a result of increased number of direct flights between Moscow and Tallinn. If in spring there were just 5 weekly services, in Autumn there were already 14 of them. UTAir has launched daily services from Moscow Vnukovo airport; the flag-carrier Estonian Air added some weekend services as well. And starting from March 25 Estonian Air will be flying from Moscow and Saint Petersburg to Tallinn 18 times a week.
Last year our tours to Estonia were selling really great. However our statistics show that the increase is not as big as the Estonian side claims it is – just about 15%. I think this can be explained by a large number of individual tourists. Many people have friends or relatives in Estonia” – comments Director General of Zharkov-tour Company Mr. Andrey Zharkov. He also reminded that since 2009 Estonia has been issuing 1-year multi-visas, which also contributes to the tourist flow growth.
According to Mr. Zharkov, Russian bank holidays remain the peak season in Estonia, when most tourists come for a weekend. For example, now we are receiving bookings for March 8. An average itinerary of this kind starts at €250 per person including transportation by rail.
Director General of Dialog Company Ms. Elena Shoushkevich points out the growth of demand for Baltic spa-centers, however the leading position remains with Lithuania. “On average Estonian spas added 20-22%. They could’ve added more but the prices for this product went up and there was not enough air transportation” – said Ms. Shoushkevich, adding that following the launch of new Estonian Air flights the situation became somewhat better as the air carrier offered better deals to the tour operators.
Having said that Elena Shoushkevich pointed out that auto tours around Estonia had shown the best growth rate (+40% compared to the previous year). This kind of travel is quite affordable, which makes it popular in both summer and winter seasons.
The market players believe that despite the growing tourist flow, Estonia still has where to move. “Out of all Baltic states Estonia receives 30% of the tourist flow, 50% and 20% go to Latvia and Lithuania respectively. The number of Estonia’s hotel beds allows the country to change this proportion” – calculates Director General of SatMarket Company Ms. Irina Setun. She pointed out that after the misfortunate for Estonia year of 2007, the tourist flow from Russia has just started to come back to the results of successful 2006. The tour operators’ forecasts for 2012 are quite positive as well.