Looking at Jurmala's development over the last decade, it's clear that the city has transformed from being a popular resort and attractive vacation destination to another district of Riga.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the number of tourists in Jurmala dropped drastically. Today the city handles only one-fourth of what it did during the Soviet era. To compensate for the fall in revenues, the former Jurmala City Council gave priority to the private sector 's not tourism 's and engaged in numerous real estate transactions. Expectedly, the pace of private construction and development in the local housing sector was stunning. Some resort hotels, such as Rakstnieku Nams, were transformed into private dwellings.
Real estate prices in Jurmala are now outpacing those in Riga. At the same time, however, the city's public infrastructure and development in commercial and residential sectors is lagging behind.
In 2004, the number of foreign tourists increased from 21,000 to 32,000, a 50 percent increase from 2000. While the proportion of visitors from Western Europe increased to 9 percent, those from Russia and CIS countries jumped to 25 percent.
There are currently 43 hotels and guesthouses currently operating in Jurmala, not taking into account the numerous privately owned dwellings that are rented out for the busy season. Sana-toriums report the highest average accommodation load at around 50 percent. The area's largest resort hotels managed to increase their average accommodation from 20 percent in 2000 to between 35 and 40 percent last year. Still, the city's average year-round accommodation is just 30-35 percent. In comparison to development within the private sector, pre-sales in newly built houses reach 100 percent at prices around 1,000 euros.
Perhaps worse, a real tourism infrastructure 's one which would include essentials such as information centers 's is almost nonexistent. Moreover, tourists must go to great lengths to find relevant information in their own language. To a great extent, the hotel system still consists of Soviet-era hotels and sanatoriums that fail to compete on the European level. Other-wise, the main problem in Jurmala's tourism sector is that entrepreneurial incentives are still weak. One of the reasons is nature: the resort's peak season lasts just three months.
Measures adopted to extend the busy seasons have not been adequately promoted. One such example is health and spa services that can be used all season long. The proportion of tourists that come to Jurmala for health and beauty treatment purposes is 31 percent, a slight decline from 2000. Currently, all major hotels offer spa services, although they struggle to make a profit.
Business tourism also offers hope. In total, hotel conference facilities accommodate around 2,000 persons. However, the number of tourists that come for business purposes has decreased by 13 percent in four years. The majority of visitors prefer to go to Jurmala for recreation and vacation.
The goal of developing Jurmala as a tourist destination hot-spot requires serious promotional efforts, and those must start at the municipal level. Portraying a clear and recognizable image is essential in creating a valuable tourism product. Currently the image of Jurmala has shifted from that of a resort city to an up-scale residential area. Despite the fact that Russian and CIS country tourists come to Jurmala for media events such as Jurmalina, KVN and New Wave, a majority show more interest in buying a house somewhere in the neighborhood.
As a result of the city's short-sighted approach, economic activity is gradually moving away from Jurmala and toward Riga. At the same time, the number of real-estate transactions has been increasing exponentially. Therefore, with the current dynamics in visitor flow, Jurmala may not be able to sustain its image as a tourism destination and loose its target group to Riga. Past attempts to attract tourists don't seem to be enough. However, a good brand always sells. Jurmala's best chance still lies in its development of a solid recreational and hotel infrastructure. One that will both impress and last.
