The WRC Rally Estonia is taking place in Tartu and southern Estonia this week, and despite hotel prices almost doubling, it has attracted a huge number of visitors from both neighbouring countries and further afield, writes ERR News.
The majority of rally fans come from Latvia and Finland, and it is estimated that foreign visitors will make up around 15% of the planned 50,000 spectators.
Rally Estonia CEO Janno Siitan said that this is an opportunity to both enjoy your favourite sport and get to know Estonian culture. “It’s not only hotels that are in high demand, but also homestay accommodation, where you can perhaps get a good Estonian home-cooked meal and maybe a sauna,” Siitan said. He also said that
anyone can place an ad on the rally website, offering accommodation in their campsites, guesthouses and summer houses.
The number of offers on the website varies between 20 and 70, and this is the fourth year that the rally organizers have offered this option: “As soon as we went public with the dates of the rally – in fact, as early as the end of last year – the first people put up their ads.”
In addition to accommodation with private guest entrepreneurs, hotels in Tartu and southern Estonia are also full. Guests have also arrived from France and Great Britain to Tartu hotels, thus supplementing the usual crowd of Estonian and Latvian rally watchers.
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