Baltic, Forum, Legislation, Lithuania, Tourism

Lidija Bajarūnienė, representative of the Ministry of Economy of Lithuania, welcomed the fact that Lithuania was the only country of the three Baltic States to be a member of the United Nations World Tourism Organisation. She gave a presentation of the Lithuanian Tourism Development Programme for 2014–2020, establishing the key goals, objectives and priorities of tourism development. Ms Bajarūnienė noted that the Programme had been drafted with a view to ensuring that tourism, as a sector of economy, contributes to increasing the income of the population, developing new business niches, attracting private investment, increasing the GDP of the country, and addressing matters related to economic and social development of the regions. The strategic goal of the Programme is to enhance competitiveness of the Lithuanian tourism sector. Other objectives include improved tourism infrastructure and quality of tourism services, enhanced visibility and image of Lithuania as a tourist destination, and contained seasonality of tourism services.

The speaker also emphasised that cooperation with neighbouring countries in implementing joint international marketing projects is among the objectives of the Programme. It also underlines the importance of cooperation with the Baltic Sea countries, in particular Latvia and Estonia, in order to present Lithuania more efficiently worldwide as a Baltic tourism region.

Ms Bajarūnienė touched upon the key challenges facing the Lithuanian tourism sector. She highlighted the problems related to accessibility and visibility of the country, seasonal nature of services, entrepreneurship, infrastructure, cooperation and digitalisation. The succeeding speakers from other countries identified similar problems, too.

Jurgita Kazlauskienė, Director of the State Department of Tourism under the Ministry of Economy of Lithuania, said that currently the Baltic States cooperated through joint activities by co-organising the annual international business forum Baltic Connecting (to be held in Vilnius in autumn 2015) aimed at introducing the potential of the Baltic tourism sector to international tourism representives; by arranging famtrips for tour operators and journalists from distant markets (Japan, China, the USA); by co-organising and participating in international tourism exhibitions and other events.

When addressing the problems of cooperation in the tourism sector, the speaker took note of the problems related to funding and public procurement procedures. Ms Kazlauskienė said that funding of tourism in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia in 2009–2014 relied on EU funds. Unfortunately, some projects failed due to differences in public procurement procedures. The Director noted that the same reason (extremely strict public procurement procedures in Lithuania) was behind the failed Great Baltic Tour 2014–2015.

Apart from funding problems, Ms Kazlauskienė stressed that rivalry sometimes made the cooperation among the Baltic States difficult. The matter was constantly addressed during joint meetings in an attempt to identify the most effective marketing tools. It is obvious that it would be more efficient to present information on the entire Baltic region, rather than each country individually, in order to attract tourists from distant markets. Ms Kazlauskienė informed the participants of the plan for 2015 to develop unified content about the Baltic States to be published on national websites, presenting the three countries as a single tourist destination. Communication in social networks will be kept separate for the time being.

When addressing the issue of tourism in Estonia, Mihhail Korb, Deputy Chairman of the Economic Affairs Committee of the Riigikogu, took note of the current geopolitical situation and the aggressive foreign policy of Russia that resulted, like in Lithuania, in manifestly reduced numbers of tourists from Russia. The politician was convinced that the situation was the outcome of not only the deteriorating geopolitical situation but also of the worsening financial situation.

Mr Korb expressed his appreciation of the fact that more and more Latvian and Lithuanian tourists discover Estonia. He was nevertheless convinced that the figure could be higher. The Estonian parliamentarian believed that adapting the Via Baltica motorway to global standards would improve the situation significantly.

When elaborating on the cooperation among the Baltic States, Linas Balsys, Member of the Seimas, highlighted the importance of legislation, public procurement procedures and marketing. He stressed that it was necessary to harmonise, as far as possible, national legislation regulating tourism, taxation and public procurement. Mr Balsys was convinced that tax incentives to hotels, restaurants and rural tourism would help foster tourism. The debate was also attended by Irena Šiaulienė, Member of the Seimas, who said that it would be very relevant to harmonise legislation and tax benefits in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. The members of the Seimas urged competent institutions to ensure the promotion of local tourism and development of joint tourism products for all three countries.

On the basis of the presentations and the debate of the meeting, the members of the Baltic parliaments will come up with recommendations to the Baltic parliaments and governments on the necessary steps to be taken.