Baltic States – CIS, Direct Speech, Latvia, Russia, Tourism
International Internet Magazine. Baltic States news & analytics
Thursday, 28.03.2024, 13:52
Baltic Travel Group CEO: decrease in the number of Russian tourists inevitable in Latvia
First of all, the number of Russian tourists is affected by the fall in the value of the ruble against the euro.
"It is now expensive for them to travel here," Korjagins notes.
The pop-music festival "New Wave" brought quite many Russian rich tourists from Russia and was successful for Latvian hotels, however, forecasts for the end of the year are rather cautious.
"A lot of business class tourists, business owners, and people from the [Russian] regions used to visit Latvia in winter. These groups have been hit the hardest by the crisis," Korjagins indicates.
Secondly, there are also risks in the corporate sector, he believes.
For the past five or six years, Riga used to be a popular place for various events, attended by 500-700 people, that were organized by Russia's largest pharmaceutical, IT companies and banks. Now most of these events are held in Russia, primarily in Sochi.
"This market used to grow 20% annually, whereas this year it has stopped growing," Korjagins says.
Korjagins believes that Russian tourists are important to the Latvian market, as they make up 28% of the total number of tourists in Latvian hotels.
The number of Japanese, Australian, American and Canadian tourists visiting Latvia has also decreased due to the Ukraine crisis.