TOUREST 2021 event postponed to 2022

The international travel trade fair TOUREST, which was to take place in May this year, is cancelled and will take place again at its usual time in February next year.

Estonian Travel and Tourism Association (ETFL) has organised Tourest since 1991 and after consulting with the Health Board of Estonia and based on an order of the Government Office of Estonia to prevent the spread of COVID-19 disease, they have decided to cancel the fair to give their contribution to prevent the spread of the virus.

“Today, all our main mission is to help slow down the spread of the infection. We consider the safety of all exhibitors and participants in the fair to be very important, and therefore we decided to postpone this year’s Tourest until next February, when the situation will hopefully be happier than today,” said Mariann Lugus, Secretary General of ETFL.

Lugus said that the preparation time for a Tourest-scale event is long and therefore the decision had to be made already now. According to her, the pandemic would seriously limit the opportunities for companies and visitors to prepare and participate in the event, which was planned for the indoor and outdoor conditions of the Song Festival Grounds.

“Although the vaccination for COVID-19 has begun in Estonia, we cannot be sure that sufficient nationwide coverage has been achieved by this spring,” explained Lugus. “One of the hashtags for this year’s Tourest was #travelresponsibly and although a lot of work has been done to make the fair happen, we want to show responsibility by cancelling the event.”

According to plans, the next Tourist will take place in February 11th-13th, 2022.

Founded in 1990, Estonian Travel and Tourism Association (ETFL) is a voluntary association of tourism industry’s employers that connects 79 members. The Association’s full members are travel agencies and tour operators, associated members are transportation companies, tourism organizations, educational institutions, hotels, insurance companies, foreign tourism organizations/companies and other organizations that offer supportive services for tourism industry. ETFL is a member of a national associations of travel agents and tour operators ECTAA.