Analytics, Good for Business, Latvia, Statistics, Tourism

Compared to the previous year, the number of nights spent by visitors increased by 2.6 %, reaching 5.51 mln. The average length of stay comprised 1.9 nights.

In 2019, 1.95 mln foreign visitors were hosted, which is 1.1 % more than in the previous year, whereas the number of nights spent by them increased by 2.9 %, reaching 3.85 mln. The majority of visitors came from Russia (279.4 thousand), Germany (243.0 thousand), Lithuania (209.5 thousand), Estonia (171.1 thousand), Finland (110.8 thousand) and the United Kingdom (108.0 thousand).

Out of the total number of foreign visitors, 36% or 700 thousand came from the neighbouring countries of Latvia – Russia (14.4%), Lithuania (10.8%), Estonia (8.8%) and Belarus (2%).

In 2019  increase was observed in the number of visitors from neighbouring countries – Lithuania (of 9.7%), Russia (7.9%), Belarus (4.2%) and Estonia (0.8%)  as well as from other countries – Ukraine (of 12.1%), Germany (7.6%), Poland (5.2%)  and Spain (2.0%). A drop was observed in the number of visitors coming from Japan (30.9 %), Canada (15.6 %), the United States of America (12.2%), China (11%), Italy (8.8%) and Norway (5.9%).

Out of all foreign visitors, majority (75%) stayed in Riga, 8.9% – in Jūrmala, 2% – in Liepāja, 1.9% – in Sigulda county, 1.4% – in Ventspils and 1% – in Daugavpils.

In 2019, 907.4 thousand Latvian residents were hosted at tourist accommodation establishments, which is 2.7 % more than in 2018, whereas the number of nights spent increased by 2.0%, constituting 1.66 mln.

Latvian residents stayed mostly in Riga (25.1% of visitors), Jūrmala (9.3%), Liepāja (7.3%), Ventspils (3.3%), Daugavpils (3.2%), Sigulda county (2.8%) and Jelgava (2.4%).

In 2019, 1.69 mln visitors were hosted at tourist accommodation establishments in Riga, of which 1.46 mln were foreign visitors, which is 1.6% less than a year ago. The number of nights spent by foreign visitors in Riga grew by 1.1%, amounting to 2.87 thousand. The majority of foreign visitors in tourist accommodation establishments located in Riga came from Russia (184.3 thousand), Germany (182.7 thousand), Estonia (111.6 thousand), Lithuania (108.7 thousand), the United Kingdom (97.7 thousand), Finland (86.5 thousand) and Sweden (66.2 thousand).

Number of visitors hosted, and nights spent at accommodation establishments

In the 4^th quarter of 2019, 580.6 thousand foreign and Latvian visitors were hosted at tourist accommodation establishments in Latvia– 4.5% more than during the 4^th quarter of the previous year. Visitors spent 1.14 mln nights which, compared to the same period of the previous year, is an increase of 3.8%. The number of foreign visitors in the last quarter of the year rose by 3.8%, amounting to 390.6 thousand.