Latgale representatives discuss Germans in the tourist exhibition in Berlin

One of the largest tourism exhibitions in the world “ITB Berlin” was held for the 53 rd time this year, and Latgale region was also represented at the Latvian National Stand.
The exhibition “ITB Berlin” took place between 6 and 10 March and, as the organisers reports, the number of participants was approximately 10 thousand from 181 countries and regions. The exhibition visited almost 166 thousand stakeholders in these days, of which 11.5 thousand were industry professionals.
On 7 March, the Latvian Ambassador to Germany Inga Skujiņa and the Latvian national airline airBaltic head Martin was also honored with his visit. The guests talked to the members of the bench, but the Livani council made it slow to convey special greetings – the airBaltic model of the airBaltic plane that had been given to him during the visit to Livani was one of the most special gifts.
At the exhibition, Latvia received an honour article on the successful attraction of tourists from Germany. For five years, Latvia is one of the most popular destinations, with the number of travellers growing by 84.11 TP1T. Although both Lithuania and Iceland have met in the lead, the growth factor of tourists has increased most notably in Latvia over the last five years. In analysing the choice of German-speaking travellers' routes in Latvia, it is interesting that there is a tendency in the middle of the new generation to visit places where the grandparents of Latvian origin have grown up. The Germans are one of the most important foreign tourists in Latgale, both due to solvency and long-term residence.
The exhibition of the Latgale region was represented by Iveta Snepste, head of the municipality of Preiles, and THE Rēzekne District, Lūznavas Manor manager Iveta Balsnne. For German tourists Latvia appears to be a small country, so most often we have been informed about destinations - Baltic States as a whole. Many have already been in Latvia, mostly in the capital, so they now expressed their willingness to explore regions. The issue of access to public transport, frequency to regions, was legal. In particular, there was a lot of stakeholders who either take their bicycle or want to hire it, so they wanted to find out practical things, such as how to transport bicycles in the transport of regions. It is certainly the cities that have rail traffic. The popular interest in the EuroVelo route was popular, so we hope that in the coming years it will be open to Latgale (news that the project application has been approved). A great interest was in nature tourism, hiking trails, the offer to travellers' families with children, as well as the restored cultural heritage. As many Germans travel with their kemper or car, the issue of high-quality campsites in the region was topical. In turn, tourism agency representatives were interested in the 4 and 5 star-type accommodation in the region, and here we still have a relatively free niche.
The main message – if there is no good road and organised traffic to regions, tourism will develop slowly. It's Piery. The time spent on the road is one of the main criteria for the choice of travel. The other - foreigners must offer a specific route (direction Riga – Latgale, Lithuania - Latgale) by TOP places in the region in different categories – cultural history, natural tourism, hiking maps, familiarisation of traditions etc. It is necessary to refrain from the personal ambitions of each municipality, but with tourist objects – “magnets” must be attracted by tourists to the region, then less popular objects will be considered. Third: Aliens can only offer items for which information is available at least in English and who are working on a day-to-day basis with e-mail, which is, unfortunately, a major problem in our region. Although the German-speaking Germans were delighted in Latvia, many admitted that they often faced a language barrier, as many owners did not communicate in English.
As world tourism trends also affect Latvian tourism services, including Latgale region, it was very valuable to visit professional lectures and discussions on tourism development prospects at global level. Thus assess, compare existing tourism services and be ready for new, innovative solutions as well as to create a tourism service supply in line with trends in tourism development. The five days spent in the exhibition provided valuable insights for ourselves and allowed the loving and solvent Germans to reveal the unknown.
Participation in the exhibition was provided with financial support from THE LATVIAN Tourism Department, THE LRTA “Ezerland” and Latgale municipalities.
The information was prepared by: Iveta Schneepste,
Representative of THE Lake Ezerland, Head OF the Preiles of Preiles