Page 53 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Estonia Latvia & Lithuania

A POR TRAIT OF EST ONIA 51

Tallinn’s new modern city centre, with the Radisson Blu Hotel (left) and SEB bank buildings (right)
Economy Tourism
Until about 2007, Estonia had a large Tourism has been instru mental in
growth in GDP and low unemployment. transforming Estonia from a drab post-
Its capital, Tallinn, underwent a transition Soviet state into a thriving nation, and the
with the economic boom, with office private sector has been quick to adapt and
towers shooting up and expensive new respond to the business opportunities that
shops and restaurants enjoying good have opened up. Tallinn was inevitably the
trade. The property market boomed, as first part of the country to benefit, but
did the market for new cars, paid for tourism has stimulated a social renaissance
mostly on credit borrowed from in parts of the country that had languished
Swedish banks. in poverty for many years, and towns
This changed with the global financial throughout the country have seen a steady
crisis, which wiped out the growth rate increase in tourism-related investment.
and pushed unemployment beyond Many Estonians fly south for their holidays,
15 per cent. The government cut its although domestic tourism is strong and
spending as it attempted to meet the weekend spa breaks are popular.
economic criteria necessary to
enter the Eurozone, and in July
2010 the EU gave approval for the
adoption of the euro in Estonia
with effect from January 2011.
Income levels are still below
the EU average, although
consumer prices are relatively
similar to those in the richer
western EU countries. The
main industries are real estate,
manufacturing, retail, transport
and communications. There is
also a large focus on information
technology, a sector that has been
breeding start-ups. Tourists enjoying Tallinn’s roof-top panorama from Toompea Hill