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The hotels and other tourist facilities in Riga received a total of 206,739 guests during the three-month period, or 6% people more than a year ago, according to information from the Central Statistics Bureau (CSB).

Of the tourists serviced at Riga's hotels and other tourist facilities in the first quarter of this year, 18.7% were from Russia, 10.1% from Estonia, 9.8% from Lithuania, 7.7% from Germany, 7.5% from the UK, 6% from Finland, 5.4% from Norway and 4% from Sweden.

During the first quarter of 2016, the number of tourists from Ukraine grew 34.9%, from Finland 29%, from the UK 17%, from Spain 15%, from Germany 11% and from Estonia, Lithuania and Russia 10%.

"Statistics for the first three months of this year are very positive and promising. We are seeing a gradual return of tourists from Russia, who are seen by many in the tourism industry as a significant part of the market. Of curse, it is too early still to comment on the overall increase in tourist numbers, but I think that the next three months will be equally good," said the Riga Tourism Development Bureau's board chairwoman Vita Jermolovica.

The highest occupancy rate in the first quarter of 2016 was recorded in March, when the figure rose by 5% from the same period last year to 40.8%.

In the first quarter of 2016, there were 124 tourist facilities with 14,697 beds in Riga.