Baltic States – CIS, EU – Baltic States, Latvia, LIVE RIGA, Tourism

The leap in the number of Russian tourists traveling to Latvia may have been caused by smog in Russia's largest cities. "Even in Latvia, the heatwaves this summer prompted even the most dedicated couch potatoes to leave cities and spend more time near bodies of water," she said.

By the grace of God, this past summer has been very good for rural tourism business, said Ziemele. Nevertheless, she cannot say yet that the crisis is over and that people have resumed traveling as they did during the "years of abundance", writes LETA.

The reduction of value-added tax rate to 10% from May 1 this year, after the VAT on accommodation services was raised to 21% last year, has helped rural tourism greatly, too. Ziemele said that this difference was invested in development by many rural tourism businesses.

Rural tourism firms are very active in applying for co-financing for their projects from European structural funds, but in most cases, even if such co-financing is allotted, it remains unused because banks currently do not issue loans that are necessary to cover the other part of co-financing. Banks still see tourism as a major risk factor, added Ziemele.