Latvia’s tourism and hospitality sector is reporting one of its worst downturns in years, with industry figures describing conditions in Riga’s restaurant trade as dire this summer, according to Tourism Review.
Jānis Enziš, president of the Latvian Restaurant Association, said the capital’s Old Town would normally be filling with foreign visitors at this point in the season, but bookings and footfall have fallen well below last year’s levels, Tourism Review reported. Industry representatives point to incidents involving stray drones over Riga, which unsettled residents and appear to have discouraged foreign travellers from visiting.
The impact has been sharper in Latgale, Latvia’s eastern region bordering Russia. Jeļena Kijaško, chairwoman of the Latgale Tourism Association, said foreign tour operators and tourists have cancelled up to 60% of reservations, with overall bookings down by around 40% compared with the same period last year, LSM reported on May 25. The association described the situation as the region’s most severe tourism crisis since the pandemic, citing repeated airspace threat warnings and intensified crisis communications near the border. Some municipalities have reportedly barred school trips to the region altogether.
Operators also point to longstanding transport limitations as a compounding factor. Latvia has no regular passenger ferry service to Riga, and flight connections from some European capitals remain less competitive than routes into Vilnius or Tallinn, making the Latvian capital a harder sell even before recent security concerns.
The downturn places Latvia among a wider group of European Union countries, including Lithuania, Romania and Bulgaria, reporting weaker overnight stays even as tourism grows across the continent overall, according to Eurostat and European Travel Commission data cited by Travel And Tour World on June 7. The outlet said reduced long-haul demand and tighter travel budgets were contributing factors across the region.
The Latgale Tourism Association has written to Latvia’s head of state and parliament seeking government intervention to support the sector through the rest of the season.