Latvia Struggling to Reach Pre-Pandemic Tourist Numbers
Latvia is struggling to reach its pre-pandemic tourist numbers despite the country registering increased overnight stays in August 2023.
According to a press release by the Central Statistical Bureau of Latvia, the country hosted 335,600 foreign and resident visitors in August of this year.
Data provided by the same authority show that tourists spent a total of 611,100 nights in the country’s accommodation establishments, reflecting a 4 per cent increase compared to the same month last year, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.
In August of this year, non-resident arrivals at tourist accommodation establishments comprised 58.2 per cent of the total or 195,200 tourists. This represents a 5.3 per cent increase compared to August 2022 but a 26 per cent decrease compared to August 2019 before the pandemic.
Moreover, when compared to the same month last year, the number of nights non-residents spent increased by 8.2 per cent this August, reaching a total of 360,200. On average, non-residents spent 1.8 nights at the tourist accommodation establishments.
In terms of their origin, the majority of non-resident visitors came from Lithuania (44,200), Estonia (24,400), Germany (22,800), Finland (12,600), the United Kingdom (9,500), Poland (8,800), and the USA (7,200).
The majority of non-resident visitors stayed in accommodation establishments located in Riga (58.3 per cent), followed by Jūrmala (13.8 per cent), Liepāja (3.4 per cent), Sigulda municipality (3.2 per cent), Ventspils (2.5 per cent), Mārupe municipality (2.4 per cent), and Cēsis municipality (2.2 per cent).
As for resident visitors, in August of this year, tourist accommodation establishments hosted 140.400 of them, showing a 7.2 per cent decrease from August 2022 but a remarkable 12.7 per cent increase compared to August 2019. This differs from the trend observed with non-resident visitors.
The top choices for the accommodation of resident visitors were Riga (18 per cent), Liepāja (6.6 per cent), Jūrmala (6.5 per cent), Cēsis municipality (6.1 per cent), Talsi municipality (4.7 per cent), Kuldīga municipality (4.4 per cent) and Sigulda, Dienvidkurzeme and Limbaži municipality (4.1 per cent).
