Written by Dienas Bizness at 26/01 2010, 01:00 - 0 comments
There will be several important conferences held in Latvia in 2010 - e.g., global Philips conference and NATO Parliamentary Assembly. Latvia and Riga became quite popular conference and corporate tourism destination in 2007 and 2008, while the last year obviously showed a decline. Riga can offer a well-developed infrastructure and services, experts say, plus good location and successful operation of Riga international airport; but the image of Latvia is definitely a downside. Most of the clients come from Scandinavia; there are some from Germany, Poland, Russia and others. The development of the conference tourism could be stimulating by attracting international hotel chains, since there are too few international tourism companies in Latvia; and there are no specialized conferences centres in Riga. Some experts say Riga could organize conference for up to 1,500 participants, while others are more sceptical and admit that it is difficult to compete with large conference centres in Helsinki, Frankfurt or Copenhagen.
Dienas Bizness, 25.01.2010.