Recent Site Visit to Tallinn - Post COVID19

Goal Events, a DMC from Latvia, Riga, covers all 3 Baltic states. Senior Project manager Agnese shares her story on recent site visit to Tallinn, the capital of Estonia.

Agnese thought she would share her experience with us, including details of how hotels, venues and transport services have changed post COVID19. 

'Inevitably, we as a DMC, have to be up-to-date with the local offerings thus we often do team site visits to Lithuania and Estonia. With the borders open and us feeling safe within the ‘Baltic bubble’, we used this opportunity to visit our lovely neighbouring capital Tallinn in Estonia.
Typically for us, our 3 day schedule was tight – 10 hotels, 14 restaurants, 11 event venues, 7 activities and, of course, several long time partners to meet. Everyone was so excited to welcome us – for most partners we were the first delegation since the breakout of Covid-19. Other than seeing beautiful new venues and hotels (like the very cool and trendy container hotel in a chic Telliskivi area, or the family-run cider brewery near Parnu city) and falling in love with Tallinn again, what took us most by surprise is how ready Tallinn is to take on guests. Which it has to be – after all, the Baltics are very small countries and still unexplored, which makes our job more so challenging and interesting 😉 Being so used to the home office (I can’t complain – I live in a pretty historical wooden house in Jūrmala, Latvian beach resort town), we follow the ‘new normal’ digitally, but it was somewhat different experiencing this on oursleves – 5 guests in Tallinn.

The strange thing was that the ‘new normal’ seemed very normal. It is impressive how well it is handled, what policies are implemented and how easy everyone involved presents it, which in turn makes us feel at ease thinking of groups visiting Tallinn. So, I thought to share my Top 5 observations there whilst it’s fresh!

Hotel - Hilton Park Tallinn Hotel 5*
I trust Hilton’s CleanStay programme (Web page & PDF) is a perfect example of how hotels should operate in these strange times. These guys take things real serious and no discussion of being otherwise – even the hotel’s GM wore a mask whilst greeting us. Disinfectants at every step, all staff wearing masks and gloves, contactless and demarcated area for check-in and check-out, several closed areas in the hotel (e.g. sauna, part lobby lounge), markings on the floor everywhere, all unnecessary covers and ‘pretty things’ removed from the rooms. And, of course, the breakfast – oh this is the hardest one for the hotels. Hilton offered a limited menu - you need to fill in a leaflet and hang it on your door handle. Of course, at the back of our minds we were wondering if we will get the right order and if our cooked breakfast will be warm. Guess what – it was! It was delivered on time, on a pretty wooden tray (keeping its standards!), every item covered with cling film, and it was delicious and warm. Funnily enough, for the first time I was enjoying brekkie sooo much (with a view) that I did not want to leave the hotel…the view from the 10th floor was stunning.

Taxi - Locally we use an Estonian application Bolt (a bit like Uber). On Day 2 we called a taxi and actually it was the first time I had personally used taxi since March! 5 minutes into our journey I realize that the front and back is divided by a plastic safety screen. The new normal hit me right there and then – strange not to notice such things right away..

Restaurants - Fotografiska
Fotografiska is a very trendy photography gallery/event venue/restaurant located in the trendy Telliskivi area. The building just celebrated its 1st year anniversary. What we love about the restaurant is the Zero Waste concept that they practice. There was normal safety measures such as gloves and hand sanitizers everywhere in the building, upon our arrival, the fantastic and charming Italian waiter bought us water and a hand sanitizer in a small pretty clay dish. That was such a nice touch! We had seen hand sanitizers in all restaurants on the tables, but this was really something that they had thoroughly thought of – how to make such usually not a very nice detail fit in the restaurant concept. The trout fillet that we had, served with fresh greens picked by the headchef Peeter the day before, was one of the best that I have ever had. I look forward to going there for a meal when the tomatoes that he grows on the outdoor terrace are ripe 😊

Unusual venues – Noblessner Foundry
Noblessner Foundry is a new venue for events in the Noblessner area – yet another trendy and cool area in Tallinn located by the sea. The building itself is not just an event venue with many rooms, but also an interactive museum – Proto Invention Factory. It was so good to see all staff working there wear gloves and masks, hand sanitizers everywhere, and rental rooms set for the meetings taking into account social distance. If you want to be in the business, you must do all you can!
Another great thing about the area – ‘180 degrees’ restaurant is located just nearby – we hear whispers that it may be the first restaurant in the Baltics that will get a Michelin star (it is ran by a former head chef of Berlin’s famous Michelin start restaurant First Floor). Fingers crossed!

Activities and highlights - Liviko Distillery
Liviko distillery is the maker of the most well known Estonian alcoholic drink (and many others) – Vana Tallinn. Only 10min away from the Old Town, they organize distillery tours and tastings, as well as cocktail workshops at the Liviko Academy premises. During our visit there I found out something new - they used to produce a liquer called ‘Agnes’ – named after an Estonian film character, where the main acress was in fact Latvian. It’s a shame they stopped producing it, it would have been a nice gift to my friends :D Oh well.
Upon entering the factory, we had to sign Covid-19 updated release forms, wear face shields and special robes, and all our belongings had to remain behind in the waiting area. With tours restarting again, I believe they will be doing really well with such policy.

We returned home with excitement and positive vibes. We very much look forward to welcoming you in the Baltics as soon as it is possible!

How to get there? Tallinn Airport currently operates 12 destinatons from Tallinn airport. By the end of the August it should grow to 30 destinations. More HERE.

AirBaltic, the Latvian National Airline, that is also one of the leading airlines in Estonia, shows in this video what they do to ensure health & safety during these unusual times.

Contact Goal Events to discuss your next event in the Baltics! Email - goal@moulden-marketing.co.uk, or phone +44 (0) 1628 532020. 

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