Latvian Tourism Newsletter
August, 2010
Top stories
Cultural Tourism
This year’s Riga International Film Forum "Arsenals" will be held in Riga from September 17 to 26. Starting from this year’s edition of the film forum, "Arsenals", which was previously a biennial event, will be held every year.The festival’s special program this year will put emphasis on films from the Far East and Japan. Many films from this region of the world have not been...
From September 7 to 12, Baltic Sea Forum for Documentaries will take place, which is a market of ideas for documentary films for all distribution platforms with international potential, and helps assist directors from the Baltics, Poland, Ukraine, Belarus, Georgia, France, Germany and other countries attract financing for their projects.The main objectives of the Baltic Sea Forum for...
Tourism Industry News
The Latvian Tourism Development Agency (LTDA) has created a new and more dynamic tourism portal - www.latvia.travel, which will replace the LTDA’s previous tourism portal – www.latviatourism.lv.The new portal is currently a demo version, which was launched in July, and currently is only in Latvian. This version is only the first stage of the portal, which has published about 30% of...Following the success of the international workshop "Buy Latvia. Buy the Baltics" the past three years, the Latvian Tourism Development Agency in cooperation with "AirBaltic" will introduce a new concept of combining workshops and seminars with both suppliers and buyers as well as "hands-on" experiences in Riga.The goal of "Baltic Connecting" is to acquaint foreign tourism professionals with the...
The "BalticMiles" loyalty program is a world where your currency comes in miles that you are rewarded every time you travel or do things you do every day – simply choose products or services from an ever-growing list of participating partners.When registering for the program, you will be given a "BalticMiles" account and can immediately begin earning miles by purchasing airline tickets,...Gastronomic Tourism
Beer restaurant "Merlin" is a unique concept restaurant, which serves "fusion" style food prepared on an open flame using beer. The restaurant’s vision was to create an enjoyable environment, where persons could taste fresh meat dishes which are prepared on open flames, as well as select from a wide variety of beers. The restaurant offers over 50 different beer brands, as well as...Representatives of "Delice", the Network of Good Food Cities of the World, consider the possibility to organize a gastronomy festival in Riga in spring 2011; thereby Riga has a chance to become the gastronomic capital of the Baltic States.Catering service can be seen as part of the cultural identity of a city: it plays an important role in ensuring the quality of life in the city, influences...
Recreational/Sports Tourism
The Riga suburb of Andrejsala on the Daugava River features two new canoe rental points, where persons can rent canoes and paddle through the Riga Canal and the Daugava River on special tourist routes. The project ‘Rigas laivas’ (Riga boats) offers persons the opportunity to see Riga whilst canoeing on the Riga Canal, as well as take canoe trips out to islands on the Daugava River in...
Tickets to the upcoming exhibition game between Latvian ice hockey club Riga "Dinamo" and the NHL’s Phoenix "Coyotes" have gone on sale. The game will be played on October 6 at "Arena Riga".This exhibition game is organized in cooperation between the Kontinental Ice Hockey League (KHL) and the NHL. The last time an NHL team played in Riga was 20 years ago, when Riga ‘Dinamo’...Useful Information
The State Tourism Development Agency has set up an official tourist information hotline 1188 to heighten convenience and comfort for visitors while in Latvia, offering support, advice and trouble-shooting 24h in the English, German, Russian and Latvian languages.
Tourist Hotline 1188 offers:
• Informative support in emergency situations (for example, theft, scams,...