Fully completed – with marking signs, maps, guidebooks and specialised website – the Baltic Trails are there offering marvellous nature experiences to hikers in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

The Baltic Coastal Hiking Route and the Forest Trail are two long distance hiking trails in the Baltic States. Jointly referred to as the Baltic Trails, they open Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania for the world’s hiking community, and are linked with the European network of long-distance hiking paths. Trail developers have put great effort in exploring the trail in full length, involving local communities to set the best route and prepare for visitors, marking and signposting the trails, producing guidebooks and maps. Hiking in the Baltic States means enjoying great nature diversity and true local hospitality. 

The third meeting of the project "Nordplus Adult" will take place in Røros, Norway, from 23 to 26 May, during which the completed study material in Latvian and Estonian will be discussed. Good practices examples, pictures and videos will also be discussed. Once the material is accompanied by examples and illustrative material, it will be sent for design. During the meeting, it is planned to get to know the surroundings of Røros and Trondheim and to visit local producers.

We are developing a training material for the project “Rural Tour: A training programme for sustainable rural tourism”. It will cover formal, informal and non-formal vocational education and training. The material will be suitable for business owners, hotel, restaurant and entertainment center managers operating in the rural tourism industry, as well as potential entrepreneurs.

On April 7, after more than two years of communication via online, the general meeting of the members of the association "Lauku ceļotājs" took place in person. During the meeting, the president of the association Asnāte Ziemele also told the participants about the project "Reaching greener future in local food & drink production and provider SME sector – innovative and best practice based adult training", the planned work and the results to be achieved.

More information can be found here.

While military heritage in tourism has obtained an uncomfortable connotation in the context of the present war in Ukraine, we in Latvia and Estonia believe that it is relevant to highlight, through tourism experiences, how our own countries gained and defended independence during 1914-1991.

The attached press release introduces the military heritage tourism offer with more than 600 sites to visit in Latvia and Estonia, route planning options and the military heritage tourism website https://militaryheritagetourism.info/en arranging the sites along a timeline and briefly introducing the most important historical events, individuals and stories.

The Latvian country tourism association “Lauku ceļotājs” is one of the partners in the project “A model for sustainable tourism in Central Asia: Building capacities, creating awareness, introducing technology” (MOST). The second year of the project has already passed, in which we have helped Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan to become more sustainable. Our expert Juris Smaļinskis participated in seminars in all three countries to share his knowledge on sustainable tourism and environmentally friendly management. He also spoke about marketing and communication with customers. Juris participated in different inspections of various accommodations and other objects both inside and outside the cities. New and sustainable ideas for tourism products were also worked on with entrepreneurs, such as a pilaf-making workshop in the Old Town in Bukhara, Uzbekistan to promote the city's culinary heritage. Juris has also given interviews to both Latvian and Asian media about the project and its progress.

The team of the project “A model for sustainable tourism in Central Asia: Building capacities, creating awareness, introducing technology” (MOST) met on 17th and 18th of March for the third steering committee meeting. Some of the partners went to Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan, and some of the partners joined via Zoom platform. On the first day, the partners informed about the completed tasks. As planned, in the second year of the project, local entrepreneurs were supported to move towards to more sustainable delivery of their services. Appropriate equipment, support for marketing activities and cooperation opportunities, as well as information on European good practices and funding opportunities at both EU and international level were provided. Entrepreneurs had the opportunity to participate in various discussions with state departments, as well as in seminars with industry professionals who shared their experiences.

Join our 17 km scenic Forest Trail section #95 from Kandava to Sabile (Zviedru cepure) Spring Hike on April 23. Bring hiking boots, drinking water, spare socks, and remember to dress accordingly to weather. The hike route starts at 9:00 at Ozolaji open-air stage in Kandava (GPS: 57.030567, 22.773616).

>>> EVENT PROGRAM (PDF).

Registration >>> ej.uz/springhikingfestival.
Registration for the event closes midnight on the 10th of April or earlier if the maximum number of participants is reached. Participation – free.

In February, for three weeks seminars were held for tourism companies in two cities in Uzbekistan: Bukhara and Khiva. An expert from Latvian country tourism association "Lauku ceļotājs", Juris Smaļinskis, also participated in them to share his knowledge about sustainable tourism and environmentally friendly management with tourism industry professionals. New ideas for tourism products were also developed with entrepreneurs, such as a pilaf-making workshop in the Old Town to promote the city's culinary heritage. Juris also visited various tourist attractions and enjoyed the hospitality of the locals to get to know the tourism offer in Uzbekistan better.

Online workshop  - 22nd/23rd February

This will be held ONLINE as two half-day workshops as we are keen to attract buyers who are still either unable or unwilling to travel to workshops. We are also hopeful in having a number of North American and South East Asian buyers

22nd February pm Europe + North American buyers

23rd February am  Europe + South East Asian and Russian buyers 

Prezentācija: RL_products_NordicMarketplace20221.pdf