Tourists rate Estonia as safe country

  • 2000-11-16
TALLINN (BNS) - Contrary to some reports in the foreign press, most tourists find Estonia safe to visit, according to a survey the Tourist Board conducted this summer.

Piret Kallas, head of tourism studies with the board, said the foreign press has painted a picture of Estonia as a country with a high rate of crime. "Once they get here in person they often have to change their opinion," she told the daily Eesti Paevaleht.

Only 2 percent of the foreign visitors polled by the Tourist Board rated their safety in this country as very poor, while 64 percent found Estonia to be safe or very safe. The board interviewed roughly 1,500 foreign tourists.

Foreign visitors rated the quality of client services of accommodation, tourism and trade enterprises with four points out of a maximum of five. Finnish tourists were the most critical of the restaurant business. Finns, who are frequent visitors to the country, also found the recreation opportunities offered by Estonia to be more limited than did tourists from other countries.

Kallas said the duration of trips to Estonia has grown. "Day trips so highly rated by the Finns have lengthened into holidays of several days. Earlier they used to spend the night aboard ships, now hotels are preferred," he said.

Tourists are now more interested in traveling in Estonia, with the western islands and the cities of Parnu on the southwestern coast and Tartu in the eastern part of the country being the preferred destinations.

It is mostly German tourists who visit different parts of the country and one fourth of them said they'd also in the future prefer to tour Estonia in a car or a camper. Compared with previous years, Swedish, British, American and Canadian tourists, too, have begun to travel more widely here.

Roughly half of visitors come to Estonia in the summer for a holiday, 16 percent are on business trips and 12 percent are visiting with relatives or acquaintances.

The purpose of the trip differs along national lines. Visitors from Russia most often come here to meet with relatives; Latvians, Lithuanians and Danes for business; and tourists from other Nordic countries - Germany, Britain and North America - for a holiday.