Latvia tourism: Baltics becoming less ‘undiscovered’

Baltics becoming less ‘undiscovered’

Riga and other cities in Latvia - Jūrmala, Jelgava, Ventspils - intends to become a popular tourist destination not only for business purposes but also for leisure time and relax for tourism purposes.
In Riga the most popular tourist sites have been named Churches, Art Nouveau architecture and the Riga Central Market, according to a survey carried out by the business information portal Nozare.lv. According to Riga Tourism Information Center, foreign tourists during the trip in Riga frequently choose to visit the Riga Dome Church, St. Peter’s Church, House of the Blackheads, seek out the Art Nouveau architecture, and stroll around the Riga Central Market.

The president of the Latvian Professional Guide Association Juris Martinsons also agreed that these are the most visited tourist sites in Riga, adding that the Museum of the Occupation of Latvia has also become a very popular tourist site.
The numbers tell the story. For example, the Riga Dome Church is visited by approximately 150,000 persons annually, the church reports. A short walk away, approximately 100,000 persons visit St. Peter’s Church every year, according to church tour guide Ruta Krukle, who added that this number could be even larger, as precise data is not available yet.
Every year the Museum of the Occupation is visited by approximately 100,000 people, the museum’s secretary Daina Ozolina said. Museum of the Occupation is very important place to visit to discover the history and heritance of Soviet times in Latvia.

Worldwide exposure of Latvia, Baltics grows

This summer, as well as this upcoming autumn, several television stations from Italy, Ukraine, Japan and Russia have already, or intend to, film scenes on tourism opportunities in Latvia, says Latvian Tourism Development Agency (TAVA) spokeswoman Inta Briede.

Right after the Midsummer’s Night festivities, an Italian film group from channel LA7 filmed various places in the Gauja National Park and elsewhere. The station intends to air these scenes in a special program this September.
Meanwhile, a film crew from Japanese television BS-TBS is in Latvia, and intends to travel around the country by bus. They will also film in Estonia and Lithuania. This channel intends to air their footage on a special hour-long show in two or three months.







Thanks for this article goes to Artis Zelmenis (Baltic Legal).