Baltic Country Holidays – Success Factors from Latvia

1. Baltic Country Holidays – Success Factors from Latvia Asnāte Ziemele Latvian Country Tourism Association Lauku ceļotājs

2. Latvian Country TourismAssociation Legal form: NGO (owns a Ltd. company for commercial activities) Founded: 1993 Members: ~300 (rural tourism entrepreneurs) Staff: ~10 • Tasks: • RT product development • Quality control and labelling • Povider training and consultations • Promotion and marketing (brochures, maps, Internet) • Lobbying for interests of members

3. RT product development • 1990 • Collective farms fall apart, private farms develop • Farmers seek for extra income – offer free rooms to tourists • 1993- Foundation of the Association - organized development of RT starts: • Database • Quality system and inspection • Promotion • Reservation office

4. 1993-1996 2 accommodation types establish • B&B (serviced accommodation) • Accommodation in providers house, sharing WC and shower • No big investments in furniture and equipment • Provider family “resources” used for tourists • Cottages (self-catering) • Operating mostly in summer season (no heating) • Modest furnishing

5. 1997 → EU and National subsidies available • B&B • Repairs and renovations, new constructions • Separate WC and entrance for guests • Attention to furniture and equipment • Cottages • New constructions – answering the customer demand of privacy • Heating, well equipped kitchen • Party facilities • For private parties, weddings, company outings • 1-2 rooms for partying, few bedrooms with many beds, sauna

6. Number of accommodations and beds(1994-2005)Source: LC database

7. Rural tourism in 2005Source: provider review and LC database • Tourists spent ~325.330 bednights • Average occupation rate 17% (-2%) • ~70% of the number of tourists stayed in the country in summer months • Average length of stay: domestic tourists – 1,4 d/n (2004 - 1,28 d/n) foreign tourists – 3,25 d/n (2004 - 2,73 d/n) • Tourist spendings in RT accommodations (LC database) ~ 7 milj. Ls. (+26%).

8. 2000 → RT is not just a bed

9. RT is not just a bed:customer review results

10. Green Certificate • Environment – is the main selling point • of Rural Tourism • “Green Certificate” eco-label • “Green Holidays” brand • Changing the way of thinking of providers and customers towards environmental sustainability

11. Green Holidays Brand Tourists • Clean rural environment • Traditional farms, natural materials • Activities in nature • Ecologically clean, local food • Information about things to see • Celebration of traditional holidays • Play areas and pets for the children • High-quality tourism services

12. Local community benefits supplying customer demand Local industry Info services Craft shops Restaurants Stocked ponds,etc. Activity facilities

13. Countryside Bounty – opening the countryside to visitors • Agricultural farms – small scale farms growing crops, vegetables, fruit, animal breeding, poultry • Fishing - stocked ponds for commercial finishing, crayfish, sea fishing, fish farming • Crafts – traditional and modern hand made products: pottery, weaving, furniture • Catering – small restaurants, shops, country pubs offering local, traditional food • Self-sustained and health farms – showing traditional rural lifestyle, promoting ancient health tradition – sauna, herbs, believes, bio farms • Food production – small-scale food production, using locally grown or made ingredients, local recipes

14. Countryside Bounty:A beekeeper • tour of the apiary • observe bees in a hive with a glass wall • a beekeeping history room • purchase honey • purchase bees

15. Countryside Bounty:Cheese maker at Eleja village • former bakery • a French, making soft cheese from local products • one of the new varieties called “Eleja”s cheese” • a tour of the facility • cheese tasting, sales outlet

16. Countryside Bounty:rabbit and fowl breeder • 300 rabbits for breeding and food • guinea fowls, peacocks, ducks, geese, quail • eggs available for sail

17. Review on sustainable rural tourism development in Latvia inventory of the current situation and negative impacts recommendations for actions to prevent / reduce the negative environmental, economic and social aspects at all stakeholder levels presented at the national RT conference on February 3, 2006 (400 participants) konferences

18. Incoming tourists in 1996-2004 • Is it enough to celebrate the growing numbers of tourists? • Consider the “quality” – behavior, attitudes of tourists and their purpose of travelling

19. Total spendings in mil. LVL (source: Central Board of Statistics) Spendings per person – lower that in the beginning of the decade Spendings of incoming tourists

20. Explanation? • Growing numbers of tourists in transit – no overnight stays in Latvia • High and still increasing price levels in the Baltic countries • Drawbacks of infrastructure (roads, signposting,, services) • Tourists using local natural resources and infrastructure without buying products/services (arriving with own food, equipment) • Is it sustainable?

21. Benefits from rapid tourism development in rural areas

22. Problems from rapid tourism development in rural areas

23. How to achieve balance between economic development and environment protection? or…

24. What’s in the hands of stakeholders in rural areas? • To protect nature and biological diversity is sometimes enough to use simple, inexpensive and generally accessible means and tools

25. Maintenance or even increase of biological diversity (species) in the given territory Infrastructure in sensitive and highly touristic sites Environment protection

26. Rest stops for tourists with bonfire places, benches, waste bins, etc. Directing tourist flow (also tourists “protected” from being a crowd) Environment protection

27. Do not advertise sensitive and easily destroyable natural values (biotopes) Do not advertise / do not incorporate in tourism product protected and rare species Protection of biological diversity

28. Environment friendly behaviour codes on signposts Develop routes and nature trails, keeping in mind nature protection Environment friendly information

29. Bird watching Nature guides Environment friendly and well considered tourist activities

30. think outside the limits of project deadlines!

31. What is behind of rural tourism success in Latvia or rural tourism golden resources

32. 1. Nature, biological diversity

33. 2. Rural landscape, environment

34. 3. Rural people, their occupations

35. 4. Country food

36. 5. Traditions

37. 6.Diverse cultural heritage

38. RT products based on “golden resources”

39. RT products based on “golden resources”

40. Thank you for attention! www.celotajs.lv Latvian Country Tourism Association “Lauku ceļotājs” Kugu str. 11, Riga, Latvia Tel.: +371 7617600, Fax: +371 7830041, e-mail: lauku@celotajs.lv