Local market survey

ESTONIA

A small and heavily forested countryThe most northerly of the three Baltic republics of the former Soviet Union

Total area: 45,226 sq kmPopulation: 1.35 millionGovernment type: Parliamentary democracyAdministrative division: 15 counties (called „maakonnad“)

396000101000

67000

4400046000

major cities

Tallinn Tartu Narva Parnu Kohla-Jarve

Estonian Russian other unknown0.00%

10.00%

20.00%

30.00%

40.00%

50.00%

60.00%

70.00%

Languages

Estonian

Russian

Ukrainian

Belarusian

Finn

Other

67.90%

25.60%

2.10%

1.30%

0.90%

2.20%

Ethnicity

Natural resources

Of Estonia are development-friendly building materials industry. The country has large deposits of limestone and dolomite, various clays, silica sand, gravel.

Estonia’s location is ideal for the creation of efficient transportation links and distribution chains for goods and services for European and other international companies.

The lion’s share of transportation income, comes from international transit and port services.Operator services are mostly provided by private enterprises. Sea transport, inter-urban bus traffic and air traffic are all organized by private companies.

Estonia is a country with well-developed touristic infrastructure.Every year a number of firms providing touristic services increasing, but due to financial crisis 2008,some of them went to bankrupt

Negative economic climate impacts travel and tourism in Estonia

After a period of steady growth, the economy of Estonia slowed down in 2008, which

prompted a change in consumer spending and thus a downturn in the property

market. Currency devaluation resulted in increased inflation, which prompted

consumers to cut back on their expenditure, thus resulting in decreased demand,

and this in turn impacted travel and tourism. Inbound tourism flows to Estonia

were also influenced by the global economic crisis. Air faces restructuring due to

slowdown in the economy The economic recession and its impact on travel and

tourism had a significant impact on the environment in air, as leading operators

sought to implement cost-saving measures. Many of them opted for restructuring

plans, which included a significant reduction in the number of ground staff

handling passenger registration and luggage as well as pre- and post- flight

customer service. Another element of this restructuring was the purchase of

smaller aircraft, to optimize flight capacity.

Strong potential for travel and tourismEstonia possesses strong potential for

the further development of travel and tourism, particularly in terms of conferences. The Estonian Association of Travel Agents and the Estonia Hotel and Restaurant Association are working together with government bodies to promote conference tourism in Tallinn. There are plans for the establishment of new conference halls in the Sakala Centre and in Tallinn City Hall.

Media Although the harsh economic crisis that hit Estonia in 2008

and deepened through 2009 also influenced the media, the

country continued to have a free and functional media

landscape. The recently established media company, Kalev

Media, went bankrupt early in the year and two Russian-

language newspapers also stopped publishing. But, overall the

main media outlets, both electronic and print-based, managed

to survive the crisis and falling advertising revenues. Overall,

the media remained free of political influence; although in

some instances the CP used its position as the governing party

in Tallinn to finance public information media that often

contained explicitly biased political messages.

Estonia has a ruputation for being at the cutting edge of

technology.By June 2010,nearly 970 000 Estonians – 75% of

the population – were ising the internet. The coutry held the

world s first parliamentary “ e – vote“ in 2007.

Although crisis affect was significant on global economy, Estonia’s business attitude towards the EU is positive and business relations between the EU and Estonia are increasingly significant. Over the next several years, major growth is likely in: services, especially telecommunications and financial, construction, transportation and tourism.

From 1 January 2011 the currency in Estonia is euro.

Thank you for your attention