In February this year, 130,500 people were served in Latvian tourist accommodation, which is 1.5% more than in February 2023, according to the data of the Central Statistics Bureau.
However, despite the rise numbers, guests spent 227,100 nights in tourist accommodation, which is 1.6% less compared to February of last year.
In February just over half (53.6% or 69,900) of all guests were foreign visitors, which is 0.2% less than last February and 29.8% less than February 2020 before the pandemic began.
"The second reason, which still has a significant impact on the arrival of foreign visitors to Latvia, is the war started by Russia in Ukraine, which reduces the flow of tourists to countries bordering Russia," explained the CSB.
The number of nights spent by foreign guests, compared to February last year, decreased by 2.7% and was 126.2 thousand. The average length of stay of foreign guests in tourist accommodation was 1.8 nights (compared with 1.85 nights last February).
The largest numbers of foreign guests were received from Lithuania (14.7 thousand), Estonia (9.6 thousand), the United Kingdom (5.6 thousand), Germany (5.2 thousand), Finland (3.4 thousand) , Poland (2.9 thousand), Ukraine (2.5 thousand), Sweden (2.1 thousand) and the USA (2 thousand).
Most foreign guests were received in Riga – 75.7 %, Jurmala – 6.9%, Mārupe county – 5.7%, Liepāja – 2.8%, Sigulda county – 1.4% and Daugavpils – 1.3%.
