|
|
Baltics Tourism Report 2010Published by: Business Monitor International Published: Nov. 25, 2009 - 56 Pages Table of Contents
AbstractIt was a difficult year in 2009 for the Baltic tourism industry. The impact of the global economic crisis on discretionary spending hit all three countries in this report - Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania - with tourist arrival numbers down and tourism revenues likely to come in below expectations. This situation is likely to endure over 2009 and into 2010 before a recovery can begin in earnest in 2011.Lithuania welcomes the most tourists each year, some 6.37mn during 2008, according to our research.Latvia welcomed 5.26mn tourists and Estonia had just over 4mn. However, when it comes to tourism revenue, Estonia leads the way with US$1.57bn, followed by Lithuania on US$1.29bn and Latvia with US$879mn. Lithuania and Latvia both tend to have a higher proportion of same-day tourists, whereas Estonia has a much greater proportion of overnight tourists, who add more value to the tourism industry. Cruise Sector Performing Well While we believe that the overall picture for Baltic tourism is somewhat clouded as we enter 2010, the cruise ship sector has clearly shown surprising resilience. Data from several ports indicate that the 2009 summer season was stronger than 2008’s. The Lithuanian port of Klaipeda reported in late September that it hosted 50 cruise ships (an increase of 8.7%) over the 2009 summer season and 33,512 passengers (up 3.2%). Latvia’s Riga Freeport also experienced rapid growth in passenger numbers, handling 572,709 passengers (including 135,133 cruise passengers) in the first nine months of the year, an increase of 42.6% year-on-year (y-o-y). One reason for the continued popularity of cruise holidays, even at a time of global economic crisis, is that the majority of cruise ship passengers tend to be older and more affluent, and have the necessary disposable income to go on cruise holidays. Moreover, their money is now going further, with several cruise lines introducing significant discounts on Baltic routes in order to ensure high volume. New Company Profile For our 2010 Baltics report, BMI has added a new company profile: Star Holidays. Star Holidays was established in June 2009 by Lithuanian businessman Martinyas Laivys. It has moved aggressively to take a reported 20% market share in the Lithuanian travel industry. The company also runs Star1 Airlines, which has re-established the route between Vilnius and London Stansted formerly operated by flyLAL . Data Difficulties One problem when dealing with Baltic tourism data is the different approaches to recording tourist arrivals adopted by each country. Whereas Latvia counts all incoming travellers, Lithuania and Estonia have not counted arrivals from EU countries since accession in 2004. A standardised approach to data collection and reporting could do much to help the development of the tourist sector in the region, as a joined-up approach would clearly identify where tourists are coming from and how best the Baltic states can tailor their tourism product offerings to meet demand. New Live Riga Brand To Boost Latvian Tourism? In October 2009, the Riga Tourism Development Bureau (RTAB) launched the Live Riga brand, which will be used to promote the Latvian capital in international markets, The Baltic Times reported. The city plans to launch new marketing based around this brand across key European markets such as Germany, Sweden and Finland. Riga city council allocated LVL1mn to supporting the work of the RTAB in 2009. Although widely supportive of moves to boost tourism, BMI would has one note of caution concerning the current global economic crisis, and its negative impact on discretionary tourism spending, which might do much to undermine the campaign. Get Full Details About This Report >> |
|
|||
|
About MarketResearch.com
|
||||