The number of stays at rural tourism accommodations in Latvia has dropped 20%, compared with year 2007. "If we consider the whole year, the number of tourists has dropped by approximately 20% in 2008; the decrease of the number of tourists during this past summer season was even steeper – 25 to 30% down. The number of foreign tourists plummeted the most, but also the local tourists used rural accommodation services significantly less," president of the rural tourism association Lauku celotajs, Asnate Ziemele notified.
This tendency has emerged as a result of the high prices, reduced purchasing capacity caused by the economy downslide, huge bureaucracy, which the rural guest houses' owners have to face on everyday basis, as well as the poor infrastructure in rural areas.
At the same time, Ziemele admitted that many owners of guest houses in near-Riga region and in Latgale Province are actually doing very well, because they have developed interesting and quality products, as well as have attracted a number of regular customers.
By LatviaNews.Com
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Number of stays at rural tourism accommodations in Latvia in 2008 went down