Tallinn Airport servived 373,000 passengers in June, setting a new all-time record. At the same time, travel agencies say they are seeing fewer customers and attribute the decline to the economic situation.
“We have never seen a figure like this in June before,” said Eero Pargmae, member of the management board of Tallinn Airport.
He added that passenger numbers were steadily increasing.
He explained that new flight routes had contributed to the growth by bringing many tourists to Estonia.
“We see many of them coming from Poland, Italy and Hungary,” Pargmae said.
In addition to new routes, the management board member said travel had become part of people’s everyday lives.
“When the economic situation gradually improves, it is immediately reflected in passenger numbers,” he added.
For example, there are charter flights with a capacity for around 550 passengers flying between Estonia and Turkey multiple times per week.
However, travel agencies are not seeing the same growth in bookings. Pargmae explained that agencies mainly sell package holidays or airline tickets.
“The current trend is that people are increasingly buying airline tickets directly from airlines,” he said.
Reili Valk, a representative of travel agency Tensi-Reisid, said that the current economic situation was having a noticeable impact on Estonians’ travel habits. She said people were travelling less than usual this summer.
Jane Laurisoo, product manager at travel agency Go Travel, also spoke of a decline in passenger numbers. She attributed it to a reduction in the number of charter flights.
“The recent events in the Middle East and the fuel crisis made Estonians more cautious about booking holidays, and weak demand forced tour operators to optimise the number of trips,” Laurisoo said.
This meant that several flights have been cancelled.
Ksenia Ots, managing director of Novatours Estonia, said the travel market was simultaneously being affected by the fragile economic environment, consumer confidence, price levels and rising travel costs due to more expensive aviation fuel.
Ots said that the inflation spikes of recent years and rising input costs had made customers more price-sensitive than they were a few years ago.
“Previously, customers were willing to pay more for a specific destination or hotel,” she added.
Estravel CEO Kaire Saadi also said the current economic situation had made people more price-sensitive. Customers are increasingly looking for promotions, comparing prices and paying closer attention to what a travel package actually includes.
Saadi noted that despite the economic situation, this summer’s rainy weather had kept last-minute holidays popular among Estonians. Laurisoo likewise said that because the weather had been wetter than usual, there had been weeks when all package holidays sold out.
Laurisoo added that there had not been many particularly cheap last-minute holidays available in July. She added that prices currently started at EUR 550 per traveller, while the most expensive trip cost EUR 9,000 per traveller.
Despite customers’ increased price sensitivity, Ots said that this year people had still been purchasing trips to Turkey featuring luxury hotels with large family suites. Novatours has sold such holidays for EUR 20,000. (ERR)