While fewer Estonian holidaymakers visited Ida-Viru County this year than usual, the number of foreign tourists to the region has increased. There has also been a noticeable rise in overnight stays by Russian tourists, due to the increased difficulty in crossing the border.
The Ida-Viru tourism cluster has been working hard to attract more Finnish tourists for a number of years and things have started to improve in that regard. The Saka Manor Hotel has, for instance, welcomed a third more guests from Finland this year.
“For Finns, our location is special. They definitely like our coastline and the history of the manor. I believe that more groups are coming from there,” said Salle Rätsep, managing director of Saka Manor.
“As a whole, the percentage of both Finns and Latvians in Estonia has dropped. So, in that sense we are seeing the opposite to the trend, in a very good way,” said Kadri Jalonen, tourism coordinator for Ida-Viru County.
The number of overnight stays by Latvians and Finns in Ida-Viru County increased by twenty percent this year. At the same time, there are fewer domestic tourists in the region compared to last year. The decrease is not huge, however, only five percent.
“We ourselves also have to analyze where they (domestic tourists – ed.) have disappeared to. It was noticed in July, so we also know when it happened. But there are no answers at the moment,” Jalonen said.
Narva’s Valge Kõrvits (White Pumpkin) Café and Restaurant has seen a large number of tourists from Finland and Germany this year, though there were fewer Estonians. There is a lot of competition to attract domestic tourists.
“We have started to offer things that are more affordable for our guests. We looked a bit at the menu, to make it tasty and surprising on the one hand, but also affordable on the other,” says Natalya Vovdenko, owner Valge Kõrvits.
What does appear surprising is the growth in Russian tourism, with almost twice as many Russians staying in the county’s hotels than last year.
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