Rural facilities see boom in turnover

RIGA - Tourist accommodation facilities in rural areas have seen a major jump in the number of foreign and local tourists year-on-year, though it was unclear whether the growth was due to a spillover effect from Riga, which last summer faced a severe shortage of beds.

The Latvian Rural Tourism Association reported that the number of foreign tourists seeking rural accommodation jumped by 30 percent from January to September this year compared with the same period last year, while the number of locals was up 10 percent.

Exact numbers, however, were not released.

"We are not providing growth figures in real numbers yet since this data will only be available early next year, when polling data from owners of the accommodation facilities will be summarized," Agnese Jakovica, the association's marketing specialist, said.

Referring to a poll, Jakovica said that 71 percent of foreign tourists are lured to Latvia by Baltic nature, while 48 percent come to get acquainted with its cultural history.

Half of travelers also find Latvia attractive because of the low prices charged for hotels and other services. Foreigners also said they liked the Baltic Sea beaches, as well as local traditions.

"We are satisfied with the growth in the number of foreign tourists since, in contrast to local tourists who usually spend just a weekend at tourist accommodation facilities, foreigners stay much longer - a week or even more," said Jakovica.

Tourists most frequently arrive in Latvia from Germany, the Netherlands, the United States and Finland.

Although there were reports of many tourists being forced to spend the night in rural locations outside Riga because of a lack of accommodation facilities in the capital, rural tourism officials are working to ensure that these year's gains continue into 2005 and beyond.

In August, the Latvian Rural Tourism Association, together with its Estonian and Lithuanian counterparts, completed a marketing strategy for the development of rural tourism up to 2010.

The strategy, developed in conjunction with the EU PHARE program, analyzed supply and demand for rural tourism in the three Baltic states based on questionnaires filled out by clients and operators of tourist accommodation sites. The project also involved the technical development of an Internet reservation system for rural tourists.

Latvia's Economy Ministry said earlier that it had projected the number of foreign tourists to grow by 20 percent in 2004 and reach 3 million people, which would in effect be the highest rate of growth in the industry over the past few years.