Conference delegates biggest spenders among visitors to Estonia

Tourists arriving by plane typically spend €400 on average, those arriving by boat €300, and people travelling by car some €200, the survey states. This is much less than what conference attendees bring in, who on average spend €1,000 a visit.

As Enterprise Estonia’s  Acting  Director of Tourism Department Ms Annely Vürmer explained to ERR, the amount people spend is closely connected to the way they travel: “Plane trips are longer compared to car or boat trips, which is why people travelling by air typically go for a longer stay, which again means that they spend more,” Vürmer said.  She added that the data isn’t new, but dates back to surveys carried out in 2015 and 2016.

Conference attendees’ comfort level higher, hence more expensive trips

Vürmer also explained that conference attendees spend more because at three to five nights spent their average stay is longer, and tend to stay in more expensive hotels than other visitors. They eat in more expensive restaurants and to some extent also participate in other leisure activities, such as day trips and the like.

The basis for the growth in business tourism according to Estonia is the availability of conference centres, a sufficient number of hotels that fit the usual four or five-star category preferred by business travellers, and better flight connections.

Source: ERR News