Baltic, Forum, Tourism

The three Baltic countries will also organize a joint presentation for Japanese tour operators and media. Latvian Ambassador to Japan Normans Penke will give a brief speech at the event, whereas Akiko Kurosawa, an expert from the Latvian Tourism Development Agency's marketing partner, the agency "Foresight Marketing", will offer an overview of tourism opportunities and other developments in the Baltic countries, writes LETA.

According to the State Tourism Development Agency's tourism market specialist Inguna Zigure, the agency considers the Japanese market to have good prospects and development opportunities in the future. The number of Japanese travelers to Latvia has been steadily increasing, she added.

Besides the State Tourism Development Agency, travel agencies Con-ex and BTG will also represent Latvia at the Japanese fair.

According to the Central Statistical Bureau's data, almost 9,000 tourists from Japan were staying in hotels and other accommodation establishments in Latvia last year, which is 23% more than in 2012. In the first six months this year, as compared to the same period last year, the number of Japanese tourists in Latvia increased 59.5%.