One of the greatest casualties of the COVID-19 pandemic has been Europe’s tourism industry. Many countries across the continent have relied greatly on foreign and domestic travel and the disease and the accompanied lockdowns have put a complete stop to that. Now, in the apparent aftermath, tourism businesses and authorities are busy looking for ways to reinvent their craft so as to better fit the new and radically different circumstances they find themselves in.
Riga’s brand new approach
The Riga Tourism Development Bureau (RTAB) has done its homework as it has developed the Latvian capital’s new approach to post-corona tourism from scratch and aims to capitalise on all the newest trends and developments that have followed the pandemic.
The most important pillar of the new “Action Plan for Mitigating the Consequences of the COVID-19 Crisis on the Tourism and Hospitality Sectors” is the attraction of more and more domestic tourists, as well as ones from nearby regions. A vital aspect of post-pandemic tourism is that travellers will be less eager to make long-distance trips for longer periods of time. Thus, the Latvian capital will seek to make itself more attractive to fellow Latvians as well as citizens of the Baltics and Scandinavia.
To accomplish this task, RTAB is planning a massive marketing campaign that will be deployed in the target countries over the next few months. The image push will be accompanied by additional investments in the hundreds of thousands of euros that will help Riga shine bright in the minds of prospective travellers.
Local authorities believe that Riga is the perfect destination for travellers who are eager to keep their distance from others – its cafes and restaurants offer plenty of open-air space and its cultural and sports offers are not contingent on being cooped up in large groups. To further explore the possibilities for the capital’s tourism, RTAB will also be hosting Riga’s very own urban tourism hackathon that is meant to boost its efforts in making it a more attractive destination. All solutions that are found will then be implemented once the state of emergency in the country is finally lifted for good.
