Number of tourists staying in Riga hotels up 22% in 2023

RIGA - The number of tourists staying in Riga's hotels has increased by 22 percent compared to 2022, Rita Petersone, a representative of the Riga Investment and Tourism Agency, told LETA.

Last year, the number of tourists in Riga exceeded one million for the first time since 2019, with 1.2 million guests visiting the Latvian capital in 2023.

The fastest growth among Riga's target markets - by 38 percent - was recorded for visitors from Finland. The number of tourists from Sweden and Poland increased by 30 percent.

Lithuanians and Estonians made up the highest percentage (12 percent from each country) of visitors to Riga last year, while 8 percent came from Germany, 8 percent from Finland and 8 percent from the UK.

In all, 980,000 of the visitors stayed in hotels and just over 200,000 in apartments.

As a testament to foreign tourists' interest in Riga, the city was ranked sixth among the 20 best Christmas markets and light trails in Europe and sixth in the Best European Destinations 2024 list of europeanbestdestinations.com, where more than a million travelers from 172 countries voted for their favorite destinations in Europe.

Riga also came first in the postoffice.co.uk Christmas Market Top 10, which received widespread publicity in the UK.

According to the agency, this year's international communication activities will focus on highlighting Riga's summer and winter offers, as well as promoting the Michelin Guide's recommended restaurants.