OREANDA-NEWS. June 17, 2014. Although the number of tourists rose 11 percent year-on-year, the head of the country's hotel and restaurant association said she is concerned that only the capital is sharing in the benefits.

Verni Loodmaa said that besides the fact that the growth in tourists came only from countries in the region, it is worrying that Tartu was not keeping up.

"The growth is centered on the nation's capital. Room occupancy, tourist numbers and average sales price are all mainly fueled by the fact that Tallinn does good work, but other regions have to work hard as well to get the growth figures. For example, the number of tourists in Tartu even decreased 3 percent, which is quite noteworthy," he said.

The number of domestic tourists grew 5 percent annually. A third of the overnight stays here, too, came in Harju County, but this was a more proportional tally. In the case of all visitors, close to 60 percent of overnight stays were in northern Estonia.