According to the latest data in 2014 75.6% or 1.3 million Latvian residents went on same-day and overnight trips, which is 1% more than in 2013.
19.9% of Latvian residents went on overnight recreational trips both within the territory of Latvia, as well as abroad, spending at least one night outside their usual place of residence. Compared to 2013, that share of travellers increased markedly by 16.1%.
Compared to 2013, the number of Latvian residents who went on recreational trips within the territory of Latvia, as well as abroad grew by 2.1%, while the number of travellers who went on foreign trips only dropped by 6.2%.
The main reason why people chose not to go on a recreational trip was given as "lack of funds," which was indicated by 49.9% of the people who did not travel. In turn, 50.4% aged over 65 could not travel due to health or mobility issues.
Latvian residents went on recreational trips within the territory of Latvia 10.8 mln times in 2014, which is 5.3% down on 2013's level. The number of domestic same-day recreational trips in 2014 declined by 9.1%. In turn, the number of overnight recreational trips around Latvia grew by 5.2%, reaching 3.2 mln trips in 2014.
Latvian residents during their recreational trips around Latvia spent on average just 14.30 euros a day, which is 17.8% less than in 2013.
The number of nights spent in recreational trips around Latvia grew by 18.7%, reaching 8.2 mln nights. The average length of an overnight recreational trip within the territory of Latvia was 2.6 days, slightly longer than 2013's figure of 2.3 days.
The most popular destinations for overnight recreational trips was Riga and it environs (29.0% of trips) and the western Kurzeme region (20.4%).
Latvian residents went on foreign trips (both recreational and business trips) 1.8 mln times in 2014, which is 3.9% more than in 2013. The number of foreign overnight trips grew by 9.3%, and the number of nights spent - by 8.9%. In turn, the average duration of a foreign trip as compared to 2013 remained the same - 6.4 nights.
However, in contrast to their miserly spending at home, travellers opened their wallets wider during their foreign trips spending on average 54.60 euros a day.
The most popular destinations for overnight foreign trips were Lithuania (11.4% of all trips), Russia (10.1%), Estonia (7.0%) and Germany (7.0%).
