BONJOUR L'ESTONIE

Estonian believers shop a spiritual "marketplace"

In Tallinn's medieval Old Town, the primary tourist attraction of the Baltic seaport capital, Estonia’s Christian heritage is ubiquitous. Gothic church spires and crosses are the architectural leitmotif.

Despite prominent symbols of faith in public spaces, Estonia is noted as one of the world’s most agnostic nations. A history of foreign occupation and cultural imposition has left an ambiguous relationship between Estonians and the role of religion in their lives.

But Estonia is not so much a nation of atheists – France led the way in that category in the latest poll of European religious sentiment, the Eurobarometer survey of 2010 at 40 percent – as an amalgam of the utterly indifferent and the spiritually seeking.

“The image of Estonia as the most atheistic country seems to exist only in the Estonian popular imagination,” explains Atko Remmel, a scholar of Estonian church history at the University of Tartu, the country’s leading research institution.

Indeed, many Estonians have faith of a sort. Half of respondents to the Eurobarometer poll expressed belief in “some sort of spirit or life force." Where Estonians are irreligious is in lack of church attendance and specific religious affiliation, in part due to the country's historical legacy.

Some Estonian hoteliers worry about falling demand

Estonian owners and managers of hotels pose concern on expected decrease in demand for the services, the news portal BBN said referring to Aripaev. Caterers are at risk of decreasing business as well, writes LETA.

According to the new survey by the Estonian Institute of Economic Research made, in May demand in Tallinn's restaurants was 13% lower than a year earlier. Felix Mägus, CEO and shareholder of Nordic Hotel Forum, one of the leading hotels in Tallinn, says that all signs show that in the accommodation business, summer 2013 will be weaker than summer 2012," said Mägus.

Speaking of causes for falling demand for hotel rooms, Mägus says that one of the key reasons is lack of economic confidence in Sweden and Finland, as well as problems linked to Estonian Air, and the lack of large-scale international events. Loodmaa says that the number of domestic tourists has stopped growing, but added that he also remains moderately optimistic.

Hotels in Tartu are also dependent on the number of events organised by the Tartu University and City of Tartu. Most hotel operators say that it is difficult to plan ahead because customers make last-minute decisions. As reported, the Estonian Hotels and Restaurants' Union will this year evaluate ten new hotels in the common European new grading system Hotelstars Union that was created three years ago.

First cruise ship of the season sails into Tallinn

Cruise ship season began in the Estonian capital on Tuesday, with the 323-passenger Astor docking at the Port of Tallinn.

A total of 328 cruise ships are set to visit the city this year, bringing 485,000 tourists, a new record, ETV reported on Tuesday.

“The summer cruise season began today and will run until the end of September. The season has become slightly longer in recent years [...]” said Sirle Arro, head of Port of Tallinn's marketing and communication department, adding that on busier days, Tallinn will have 9,000 cruise ship travelers walking its streets.

Each cruise passengers spends an average of 51 euros while in Tallinn, ETV said.

The KGB bugged the hell out of Estonia hotel guests

Old Town Tallinn in Estonia feels like it should be on top of a wedding cake, the old city walls, church steeples, narrow cobblestone streets, and pastel colors putting forth a true Medievil vibe. Aside from aesthetics, the main draw of the city is the deep and relatively recent history – Estonia gained its independence from Soviet power less than 25 years ago, in 1991.

Men and women in their late 20s and early 30s can share stories of the communistic culture they experienced as children, including long lines at food markets and loss of property, all of which took place under the careful watch of the KGB. Estonians were forced to vacate or share their households with Soviets depending upon their income.

There are many hotels located within the Old Town walls to choose from, but if you want a true taste of KGB history during your visit, consider the Sokos Hotel Viru just outside Old Town. Opened in 1972, it's the largest hotel in Estonia with over 500 rooms, and during Soviet occupation, the KGB had an office on the top floor (the 23rd floor, which did not have a button on the elevator).

Estonian Air to implement check-in charge

Starting in August, Estonian Air will begin charging customers for using their check-in service booths at airports.

The announcement today is part of the most recent round of changes being implemented as part of the financially strugling airline's restructuring plan. In a press release, Estonian Air said it is narrowing its ticket options from five to three.

In August, the carrier will start charging a 10-euro service fee at check-in desks for the cheapest ticket class. Check-in through the company's website, via text message, or through a self-service station at the airport will still be free of charge.

On a more positive note for customers, children between the ages of two and 11 will begin receiving a 25 percent discount off the basic passenger price.

Estonian Air sells subsidiaries and raises prices

TALLINN – Estonian national carrier Estonian Air, which last year had a loss of nearly 50 million euros, intends to sell its subsidiaries, make at least 50 employees redundant and raise prices of tickets to compensate for expensive fuel, Postimees writes.

Estonian Air announced on Thursday that it had a loss of 49.2 million euros on 91.5 million euro turnover last year. While the turnover grew by 20 percent, losses reached 184 percent.

The company's finance manager Wade Stokes said that the activities of the previous managements of the company caused the loss.

In order to climb out of the losses, the company will make several changes in the next few months, the first of which is sale of subsidiaries. Estonian Air has stakes in three companies: Amadeus offers travel services, Eesti Aviokutuse Teenuste AS sells plane fuel and Estonian Air Regional works on local flights. While in the first two, two foreign companies have a stake and they might be interested in buying the majority stake, the latter belongs to Estonian Air fully and it may be hard to find a buyer.

Skiing the ash heap : Estonia's new winter sports destination

Once known only as the tallest ash pile in the Baltic states, Tuhamägi in northeast Estonia was given new life last month when it opened as the region's largest downhill ski spot. ERR News staffer and highly unskilled skier Steve Roman risked life and limb to bring you this review.

It was a project that had been making headlines for years, mainly for its bizarre edge. Developers had been taking an artificial hill near Kiviõli, one of seven such mammoth residue heaps that grew up around Ida-Viru County's oil shale industry, and turning it into the Kiviõli Seikluskeskus, a recreation center offering options for winter sports as well as motocross, biking and hiking in the warmer months.

So when my girlfriend invited me to tag along with her and her office mates to try out the newly opened center, I jumped at the chance. Mainly it was out of curiosity - I wanted to see just how far 6 million euros of generosity from the EU, national government and the town of Kiviõli could go in terms of transforming an industrial eyesore into something resembling an Alpine resort - or at least a decent getaway by Baltic standards.

Then reality set in. Going along would mean I would actually have to ski, something I hadn't done since high school. A long time has passed since those days. Empires have risen and fallen. Continents have drifted. If anything, it was going to be an interesting weekend. We arrived late on a Saturday afternoon. Tuhamägi is about two hours from Tallinn by car, and when driving up we noticed two things: First, it really does look artificial, like an enormous, white pimple on the otherwise flat Ida-Viru County landscape; and second, it's damn popular – the lines for the lifts looked daunting.

On checking into the Tuhamäe Hostel, a sharply decked-out, 30-bed facility just a few steps away from the slopes, we learned from the staff that the new attraction indeed had no shortage of visitors. The ski crowds are heaviest between noon and 18:00 on Saturday and Sunday. The hostel itself has been fully booked every weekend since February 4, the day of the Kiviõli Seikluskeskus's grand opening. Most rooms are occupied on weekdays as well.

Tallinn’s best kept "not-so-secret" attraction : the bastion tunnels

Estonia’s capital city Tallinn is older than most people realize, and just like all old cities, it has more than its fair share of secrets. Alongside the distinctly medieval flavor of downtown Tallinn’s streets, stories of ghosts, hidden tunnels and buried treasures add to its air of mystery.

Not so long ago though, Tallinn finally revealed one of its biggest secrets with the opening up of the Bastion Tunnels, a secret network of underground corridors built in the 1670’s by Estonia’s then Swedish rulers, which run under the ancient earthen bastions that once protected the city. The Swedes built the bastions in order to bolster the city’s defences, deeming its old city walls insufficient to protect against modern artillery weapons. The secret tunnels were dug out to allow for the rapid movement of troops from one part of the bastions to another.

After being used for a short time, the Bastion Tunnels were soon abandoned to the spiders and the rats. But while they may have been abandoned, they were definitely not forgotten – its entrances have always remained visible, yet few ever ventured into them, in spite of persistent rumours of buried treasure lurking somewhere within their depths.

Tallinn had more tourists in 2012 than during the Culture Capital year

A record 1.52 million visitors stayed in the accommodation pestablishments of Estonia's capital Tallinn in 2012, which was by 2% more than in 2011 which was the European Culture Capital year, LETA/Äripäev.ee reports.

There were more cruise passengers and one-day trip guests from Finland and Russia among tourists that visited the city.

The 1.52 million tourists that stayed in accommodation establishments spent 2.76 million nights here. 90% of the people were from foreign states and two thirds them from neighbouring states – Finland, Russia, Sweden and Latvia.

Tallinn's deputy mayor Arvo Sarapuu said that the increase in the number of tourists was in line with expectations since in addition to the very good connection with Finland, plane and ship connections with Russia improved. Also, the Culture Capital year of 2011 still cast an influence last winter.

Tallinn's medieval old town

Tallinn is a medieval wonderland. The capital of Estonia isn't on a lot of people's bucket list but anyone at all interested in history, architecture or art will love this place.

The central attraction is Old Town, a medieval walled city filled with old buildings and fortifications. The sheltered bay and the easily defended Toompea Hill made it a natural place to settle. Sometime about 1050 A.D. a fortress was built atop the hill, the first of many. In 1219 the Danes showed up as part of the Northern Crusade to subjugate the Baltics and convert the local pagans to Christianity whether they wanted to or not.

The Danes improved the fortifications and expanded the town, which became part of the Hanseatic League, a trading organization of a hundred northern cities. The Danes sold Tallinn to the Livonan Order, a branch of the Teutonic Knights, in 1346. The Swedes came next in 1561. Tallinn weathered plague and the Great Northern War and became part of Russia in 1710. In 1918, Estonia declared independence from Russia and fought a bitter war against Bolshevik Russia. Independence didn't last long, however, and the fledgling nation fell first to the Nazis and then the Soviets during World War II.

How Estonia preserved its culture

Recently, my wife, Allyson, and I landed in Estonia, a tiny, little-known nation tucked away in the northeast corner of Europe just south of Finland. Although my parents were Estonian, I had never visited before. Now, I was seeking my roots. For the first day we walked in Tallinn’s Old Town, captivated by one of Europe’s most beautiful capitals with church spires, thick battlements, towers and narrow cobblestone streets. I was thrilled to hear the Estonian language and see signs in Estonian.

Old Town is known for its well-preserved and authentic Hanseatic architecture.

The next day, a relative pointed to a stately Gothic house. “That was the former KGB headquarters,” she said. “This street was the most feared place in the city.” It was a reminder that most of Estonia’s history has been spent under the heel of invaders.

Estonia has a Nordic culture and its language is similar to Finnish. Estonians are educated and enjoy music, literature, and nature. But with a small population (about 1.3 million) situated in a much-coveted location, the country has seen many battles and conquests. The ruins of castles and fortresses are everywhere. Until 1991, the nation enjoyed freedom only between 1920 and 1940.

Ryanair announces new Tallinn route from London Stansted

RYANAIR announced a new route from London Stansted to Tallinn in Estonia from March 31.

And the low cost airline celebrated the new route by releasing 100,000 seats across its European network, at prices starting from £15 for travel on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday in February and March.

These ‘all in’ low fares will be available on over 1,000 of Ryanair’s European routes but must be booked on ryanair.com before midnight on Thursday January 17.

Ryanair’s new London Stansted to Tallinn route went on sale on ryanair.com

48 hours in Tallinn

You could easily lose yourself while exploring the Estonian capital's well-preserved medieval Old Town or become absorbed in Tallinn's gritty Soviet and spy-laden past.
Whatever your interests, local correspondents show you how to make the most of 48 hours in Tallinn.

Friday:

5 p.m. - Arrival and check in. There are many good hotels in the Old Town or near by, including the spa Hotel Telegraaf (www.telegraafhotel.com ), where European central bankers stay, or boutique hotels The Three Sisters (www.threesistershotel.com ) and Schlossle (www.schloesslehotel.com ).
If you like a good view, try the Raddisson Blu, Swissotel or the Soviet-built, now modernised, Sokos Viru.

6 p.m. - Plunge straight into the heart of the Old Town by heading for Town Hall Square. Tallinn is a Hanseatic architecture-lover's dream and is protected by UNESCO.
The small city of half a million people bills itself as the most intact medieval city in Europe. It still has the original street system (from 13th to 15th century) and most of the 14th and 15th century houses in their original size and form. In addition to the numerous houses, barns and warehouses of the general population and traders, all of the main representative/governmental buildings and churches are still intact.
The town hall is the last surviving Gothic town hall in northern Europe. (veeb.tallinn.ee/raekoda). Tours are possible in winter if booked in advance.

Record number of Russians entered Estonia through Narva

More than 14,000 Russians entered Estonia through the Narva border town for the New Year’s festivities before the end of the year, according to the borderguard authority, writes Postimees daily.

The authority’s press spokesperson Yelena Filippova said that because of the large number of vehicles in the border checkpoint there were seven lanes opened including two lanes that are normally used for trucks.

Between 60 and 65 buses and about 900 passengers cars were crossing the border every day. Filippova said that normal volumes should be restored on January 8 when the Russian Christmas is over.

Local spas and hotels have been full of Russian tourists. “The situation is great,” said Irene Hauka, sales manager of Narva-Jõesuu Spa. “We started to sell year-end packages already in August and by November were 100% fully booked.” Also Meresuu spa in Narva-Jõesuu was fully booked until January 8.

Hauka added that customer surveys show that Russians who vacationed in Estonia were generally satisfied with their stay. “They had two problems: visa and border crossing queues which is why many of them used buses to come to Estonia instead of passenger cars,” said Hauka.

Toomas Hõbemägi

St. Petersburg Times writes about beauty of Tartu

Russia-based paper The St.Petersburg Times has revealed Estonia's intellectual capital Tartu to its readers, telling about its unique and multi-facet nature, writes LETA.

The journalist noted that the way from Estonian capital Tallinn to the so-called "student city" Tartu takes only two-and-a-half-hour of pleasant way across the Baltic State. The road opens spectacular view on the country's forests covered with snow, vast whitish fields and wooden houses.

The city's main feature is the large number of lecturers, teachers and students who come to the Tartu University from across Estonia and even foreign countries. This endows the city with very special vibes which can be felt only in Tartu, and has influence on the city's artistic appearance.

"In winter, the large number of young people makes the town perhaps more vibrant and full than in summer, when many are on holiday elsewhere," writes The St. Petersburg Times.

The online newspaper gives an insight to Tartu's history. Tartu is Estonia's second largest city and the Baltics' oldest, being first mentioned in historical documents dating back to 1030.

Russian tourists spend even more millions in Estonia in 2012

While on average a Russian tourist spends in Estonia over 300 euros, at the end of the year their spending increases by two or three times in 2012, experts say, which according to estimates of Eesti Päevaleht means 5-10 million euros extra income for the tourism sector as compared to last year, writes LETA.

In December and January around 1,000 Russian tourists more than last year are expected to visit Estonia. Over the past five years, the number of Russian tourists has increased four times.

Since Russian tourists are among the biggest revenue creators of companies, accommodation and entertainment facilities in Tallinn and elsewhere in Estonia focus a lot of Russian tourists when organising New Year's parties. A large part of packages and hotel places are sold out in September and October.

Enterprise Estonia Tourism Development Centre head Tarmo Mutso said that 15,000 Russian tourists more can be expected in December and January than last year when over 62,000 people from Russia came to Estonia and stayed overnight in accommodation establishments. Many people also stay at relatives or come on day cruises. "When Russian people spend an average of 310 euros a year on a trip, we assume that at the end of the year the spending is considerably bigger. New Year's parties in Tallinn cost over 100 euro a person already," said Mutso.

Estonia is a prospering European destination

Event organisers are finding exciting new opportunities in the newly independent Baltic states of the former Soviet Union. Estonia is one country that is reaping immense benefit. The increasing flow of business travellers has prompted Estonian Air to switch its London-Tallinn flights from Gatwick to London City from March 2013 in order to offer a three times a week service.

Visitors are amazed at how technically advanced Estonia has now become. Few Western European cities, let alone those in Eastern Europe, have such a sophisticated infrastructure. Meetings organisers can rest assured that everything they need to make a smooth running success is already in place in Tallinn – from first-class hotels and a wide choice of venues to quality catering and expert production and technical support.

You can still find pockets of grim Eastern-Bloc-style poverty, but tiny Estonia has done remarkably well from its Euro zone membership. There’s a boom in construction and general income and living standards have climbed steadily even while neighbouring economies have stagnated or even declined.

A self-proclaimed role as ‘Gateway to the West’ has enabled Tallinn to metamorphose from a sleepy and remote regional capital into a vibrant international hub, where it’s now as easy to find Japanese sushi, a pint of Guinness or an Italian pizza, as it is the potent local Vana Tallin Liköör. It’s a beautiful little city that’s also a key business hub, making it an attractive MICE destination.

Lufthansa to discontinue Tallinn-Munich flights

Munich has become the latest to join the growing list of cities that will soon be unreachable by direct flight from Tallinn Airport.

Lufthansa said today that it would discontinue its Tallinn-Munich service from April. A company sales representative, however, told uudised.err.ee that it would add additional flights to Frankfurt to allow more passengers to transfer through that hub.

News of the change comes less than two weeks after Estonian Air announced that it would stop servicing the Tallinn-Paris route next year and suspend flights to Vienna as part of route cuts designed to ease its financial hardship. It has also suspended its Tallinn-Tartu service.

Irish budget airline Ryanair also reduced its winter season destinations from Tallinn this year, leaving Barcelona, Bremen, Dublin, Düsseldorf and Stockholm off its seasonal schedule.

700 British cruise tourists visit Christmas-themed Tallinn

M/S Black Watch, a cruise vessel of Fred Olsen Cruises, visited Tallinn yesterday with approximately 700 British cruise tourists on board, reported Port of Tallinn.

The Christmas-themed tour introduced British guests with Estonian holiday season customs and provides them with an option to shop on Tallinn Christmas markets.

"The visit of Black Watch is an achievement for us, as the British have not organized cruises that far to the east in the Baltic Sea at such a time of the year”, says Sirle Arro, Head of Marketing and Communication Department at the Port of Tallinn.

Black Watch brought 655 cruise tourists to Tallinn. Most of them are from the Great Britain, however, some are from Canada, Australia, USA, Ireland, Norway, Slovakia and Thailand. The crew of the cruise vessel consists of 338 members.

The Christmas cruise for British tourists started on the last Thursday in the UK’s largest passenger port of Southampton. Tallinn is the first port of call in this cruise. The vessel stays in Tallinn from 9:00 to 16:00. Having visited Estonia, the ship went to St Petersburg and after that on the return trip will stop in Helsinki, Warnemünde and Kiel. It will return to Southampton on December 4, 2012.

During this Christmas season, the Port of Tallinn also expects Swedish cruise tourists on Birka Cruises ship. In the end of December and in early January Tallinn will traditionally become one of the destinations for winter cruises with Russian tourists operated by Tallink and St. Peter Line. The total of nine cruise ships will visit Tallinn in the coming winter, which is two more than the year ago.

Toomas Hõbemägi

Bows and arrows, banquets, bikes and boats : it’s all in Tallinn

It’s not every city in the world where you expect to see a teenager dressed up as a monk talking on a mobile phone. Especially when he hurriedly hangs up and waves you into his restaurant, the candlelit Peppersack, and serves you a medieval feast fit for a king. But this magical experience neatly sums up Tallinn, capital of Estonia, which is not only Northern Europe’s most ancient city and a Unesco World Heritage site but, as the birthplace of Skype, has also been listed as one of the world’s top ten digital cities.

Tallinn is the perfect place to unwind and escape the hustle and bustle of modern life. And Estonia is the smallest of the Baltic countries with one of the lowest population densities in Europe. Surrounded by formidable walls dating back to 1265, the city is a joyous jumble of enchanting cobbled streets, fairy-tale steeples and turrets with biscuit-coloured roofs. Based around the central, imposing town hall square of Raekoja Plats, the whole city is easily manageable on foot and makes for a fantastic weekend city break for the tourist who fancies a departure from the norm.

Everything was within striking distance of our hotel, the excellent, four-star Nordic Hotel Forum, on the edge of the Old Town. Even the airport was only a ten-minute cab ride away. Over the centuries, Estonia has been invaded and occupied by the Danes, Russians and Germans and only gained independence from Russia in 1991. Now, it is a vibrant, proud country full of hope, optimism, and smiling faces.