Seasonality of tourism in Tartu and its hinterland

Laura AltinUniversity of Tartu

Estonia

Causes of seasonality

• Natural causes- climate- sunshine- rainfall

• Institutional causes- social aspects- culture- religion- festivals- school holidays

Measuring seasonality

• Quantitative measures- Statistics about accommodation- Mobile positioning data

• Economic values- taxes- jobs- profit from consumption of goods and services in destination.

Problems

• Seasonality of jobs;

• Fixed costs to keep infrastructure;

• High season – heavy traffic, lack of water, waste.

Seasonality in Estonia

• Coastal areas – summer• Continental inlands – winter• Weekly Pattern

- business travelleres on weekdays- transit travellers on weekdays- weekend travellers – holidays, events.

• Scandinavian 1-day tourists mostly visit only the capital – Tallinn.

Seasonality in Tartu

Accommodation 2008-2010

0

20000

40000

60000

80000

100000

120000

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Jõgeva

Põlva

Tartu

Valga

Võru

Potential

• Ice-fishing and accommodation for fishermen;

• SPA-tourism is not seasonal;

• Conference tourism – spring and autumn.

• Cooperation between tourism-related sectors.

• Airlines to and from Tartu Airport.

Thank You for listening!