Baltic States – CIS, EU – Baltic States, Latvia, Markets and Companies, Statistics, Tourism

n the 2nd quarter of 2016, 432.7 thsd foreign visitors were hosted in accommodation establishments, of whom 29.6% were visitors from neighbouring countries – 10.9% from Russia, 8.6% from Lithuania, 8.1% from Estonia and 2.0% from Belarus.

As compared to the 2nd quarter of 2015, the number of foreign visitors has increased by 5.1%, and the number of nights spent by them in Latvia has grown by 4.5%.There has been a significant increase in the number of visitors from the USA (of 56.6%), Spain (of 33.4%), the United Kingdom (of 27.0%), as well as Lithuania (of 17.9%), Poland (of 17.4%) and Finland (of 13.5%). The number of visitors from Russia has remained at the level of the 2nd quarter of the previous year (an increase of 0.1%).

Out of all the foreign visitors 80.8% stayed in Riga, 6.7% – in Jūrmala, 1.5% – in Liepāja, 1.4% – in Sigulda county, 1.2% – in Ventspils and 1.1% – in Daugavpils.

During the 2nd quarter of 2016, 180.3 thsd Latvian residents stayed in tourist accommodation establishments, and that was 8.7% more than during the 2nd quarter of 2015, whereas the number of nights spent grew by 12.1%. The most popular destinations among Latvian residents were Riga (24.2% of visitors), Liepāja (8.0%), Jūrmala (6.9%), Ventspils (4.0%) and Daugavpils (3.7%).

In the 2nd quarter of 2016, there were 393.1 thsd visitors hosted in the accommodation establishments of Riga, which was 5.5% more than during the corresponding period of the previous year. The number of foreign visitors in Riga has increased by 4.6%. The majority of foreign visitors who came to Riga were from Germany (14.8%), Russia (9.7%), Finland (6.8%), Estonia (6.6%), the United Kingdom (5.9%), Lithuania (5.9%) and Norway (5.5%).