Number of tourists arriving in Riga have returned to pre-Covid levels - Kirsis

RIGA - The number of tourists arriving in the Latvian capital has returned to pre-Covid-19 levels, Riga Mayor Vilnis Kirsis (New Unity) told a press conference today.

The number of tourists staying in hotels will reach 2019 levels next year, while the number of tourists staying in apartments will reach 2019 levels already this year.

Riga is still the main tourism hub and driving force in Latvia, with 70 percent of all foreign visitors choosing to stay in hotels in the capital.

According to Fredis Bikovs, Director of Riga Investment and Tourism Agency (RITA), 617,647 tourists stayed in hotels in Riga in the first seven months of this year, an increase of 14 percent compared to 2023.

As Kirsis explained, Covid-19 is not the main reason for the previous decrease in tourist numbers. With the end of the pandemic, people came out of their homes and started to travel once again.

But after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Riga lost around 200,000 Russian and Belarusian tourists who will not return, so Riga is trying to replace these tourists with Western European and Scandinavian tourists.

Linda Pede, head of RITA's International Cooperation and Marketing Department, informed that the agency has spent around EUR 1.5 million on attracting tourists this year. The most active campaigns were in Poland and Scandinavia.

All campaigns have delivered the expected results, and in some segments have exceeded them.

Support for major events, such as sports competitions and music festivals, is also an important investment for attracting tourists, Kirsis added.

Germans have been the first foreign tourists returning to Riga for several months already, which is a positive sign for the industry and an indication of a recovering market.

The number of German and British visitors is said to have increased significantly. The number of German tourists increased by 38 percent in seven months and by 44 percent in the high season from May to July. Visitor arrivals from the UK increased by 11 percent, with an increase of 18 percent in the high season.

As Bikovs pointed out, in 2024, special attention is being paid to markets with high potential or similar geopolitical situations - such as Finland, Norway and Poland. In short-term rental apartments, Russian tourists have been completely replaced by visitors from other countries, for example, the number of Polish tourists in this segment has more than doubled, while the number of Lithuanian and Finnish tourists has increased by 50 percent.

There is a common myth that the number of Swedish tourists is affected by the lack of a ferry line, but data shows that Riga has a higher number of overnight Swedish tourists compared to the other Baltic capitals, despite the fact that there is a ferry between Tallinn and Stockholm.

According to RITA, Riga is still the leading tourist destination in the Baltic region, ahead of both Tallinn and Vilnius. Estonians visit Riga 31 percent more than Latvians visit Tallinn, while Lithuanians visit Riga 77 percent more than Latvians visit Vilnius.