Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Jeff Jarvis and Piret Kallas
Introduction
Economically, it can be seen that Estonia
has benefited greatly from the tourism industry,
with over
€
5.8bn in receipts being generated
between 1993 and 2003 (Enterprise Estonia/
Estonian Tourist Board, 2004a). The economic
impact of the industry, as highlighted in Fig. 13.1,
has grown dramatically from
€
91.8m in 1993
to over
€
900m in 2004, with a substantial
increase occurring in the year Estonia acceded
to the EU (Enterprise Estonia/Estonian Tourist
Board, 2005). In terms of total exports, the
industry in 2003 accounted for 40% of all ser-
vice exports and 13% of total exports, a rise
from 32% and 9% in 1993. Additionally, the
Statistical Office of Estonia estimated in
2000 that the industry accounted for 8.2% of
GDP and over 45,000 full-time jobs (Enterprise
Estonia/Estonian Tourist Board, 2004b). With
demand forecast to grow annually by 6.4% to
2015 and capital investment by 7.7% (WTTC,
2005), the long-term outlook for the Estonian
industry is positive.
Estonia has responded proactively to the
opportunities presented to it in the tourism
industry, launching the 'Brand Estonia' cam-
paign in 2002 to act as a point of focus for their
marketing strategy as they moved towards EU
membership. Since 1995 the industry has
moved away from being over-reliant on same-
day visitors and the Finnish market, and has
seen investment in and the development of
product sectors such as the convention industry,
It wasn't that long ago that the Baltics in
general, and Tallinn in particular, were
regarded as a fringe destination, an exotic
stopping place for cruise ships and a pin on the
map for the more adventurous backpackers.
Rest assured that those times are no more.
(In Your Pocket, 2005)
The above guidebook quote highlights the fact
that the Estonian tourism industry is booming
with investment and tourists flocking to the coun-
try. In 2004, overnight visitors were estimated to
have increased by 20%, receipts from tourism by
21%, the supply of bed spaces throughout
the country by over 33% (Enterprise Estonia/
Estonian Tourist Board, 2005) and passenger
numbers at Tallinn airport grew by 40% (Tallinn
Airport, 2005). Indeed, Eurostat (2005) indi-
cated that in terms of total number of overnights
compared to the same period in the previous
year, Estonia was the fastest growing tourism
destination in the EU25 for the first 9 months of
2004. Tallinn's strategic location in the Baltic
Sea is also leading to its growth in popularity as
a cruise destination, with 331 ships due to dock
in 2005, an increase of more than 100 on the
previous year (Baltic Stand-by News, 2005).
CNN World Business Report even broadcast on
9 November, 2004 that the former Soviet
socialist republic was one of their tourism 'hot
spots' to visit for the following year.
