Tourism as creative force for spatial planning in Latvia
Jekabs Trusins, Dr.habil.arch. Ivars Bebriss, Mg.oec.
Professor of Spatial planning Market analyzer
Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning Television Study NTV
Riga Technical University, Latvia Riga, Latvia
e-mail: trusins@bf.rtu.lv
The aim of this paper is to outline some existing conditions and problems of organizing the
tourism and recreation as creative economic sector in Latvia, to define the strategic goals
and tactics of tourism spatial development.
Conclusions
1/ Latvia has sufficient quantity and quality of tourism resources to increase the tourist flow.
2/ The main development direction in the near future should be the upgrading of the small
boarding-houses and hotels on the sea-shore and in small towns, as well as the promotion of
rural-tourism.
3/ The doubling of hotel capacity may be a necessity, but it is also a challenge due to the
considerable amount of investment, that would be required.
4/ As the first step toward a productive development of Latvia’s tourism system should be
meeting the requirements from East (former Soviet republics), and little by little increasing
the quality of the tourism product to reach eventually European standards.
5/ The structuring of a regional tourism activity centered on the Baltic Sea and planning a
Baltic tourism system linked with American and Canadian tourism activities, are urgent tasks
for us to-day.
6/ The methods and principles presented in this paper could be the basis for planning
tourism and recreation development in Latvia.
7/ Latvian tourism product forms out of its natural resources and can find a niche in world’s
tourism market by offering ecotourism and unaffected nature in combination with types of
active recreation.
8/ The strategic goal of the Latvian tourism product development must be increased of
competitiveness in order to grow tourist satisfaction with their stay in Latvia.
9/ Marketing of the Latvian tourism product on the global market can’t be separated from the
overall Baltic tourism development strategy. It is necessary to show the Baltic’s as an
integrated tourism market and Latvia as an individual destination.
10/ In order to attract tourists and extend their stay in Latvia, it is necessary to develop the
appropriate infrastructures, including but not limited to paid-for services (accommodation,
recreation, equipment rentals, etc.), as well as free services (parking, recreation sites, etc.).
J.Trusins, I.Bebriss. Tourism as Creative Force. 41st ISoCaRP Congress 2005
11/ Taking into consideration the pricing gaps and the advantages of the Latvian tourism
product, it would be necessary to orientate investments toward rural tourism to promote
growth for accommodation places in the countryside.