RIGA - Latvia's Novatours, a subsidiary of the largest travel agency in the Baltics, announced last week that sales and earnings skyrocketed last year and would continue the same trajectory in 2007 as holidaying Latvians fork over more money for travel. Novatours, which is owned by Lithuania's Novaturas group, said sales last year amounted to 9.5 million lats (13.5 million euros), up 62 percent year-on-year, while earnings grew 3.5-fold to reach 308,000 lats.
Sales director Enriko Ruzickis said that the results were due to the dynamic tourism market, which is growing both in terms of traveler-numbers and quality.
"As their income grows people are ready to spend more money on holidays and trips," Ruzickis told the Baltic News Service, adding that in 2006 the average traveler chose costlier trips, with the price of an average trip in the 300 - 500 lat range.
Also, more Latvians are borrowing money in order to travel, he added.
This year the firm wants to post 14.2 million lats in sales, which would be a 50 percent increase from last year. Ruzickis believes the target can be reached since Novatours has already sold about half its summer trips.
This year Latvians are choosing Crete, Tunis, Bulgaria, Spain and Croatia, said Ruziskis.
He said that overall this year the tourism market in Latvia is expected to grow 30-35 percent.
Lithuania's Novaturas owns a 78.7 percent stake in Novatours, while the remaining 21.3 percent belongs to five Latvia-based travel companies.
Besides Latvia and Lithuania, Novaturas has operations in Estonia and is planning to expand into Finland.
The group posted sales of 220 million litas (63.8 million euros) last year, up 34 percent from 2005's result.
