This week, 26-27 February, partners from Latvia and Lithuania of the new project "Extending the Baltic military heritage tourism product in Lithuania and South Latvia (Military Heritage II)" met in the first partner meeting in Riga in order to start active work on the expansion and development of the Baltic military heritage tourism product.

The networking cruise for all the captains of tourism industry. Networking on a ship - is it possible? Yes, it is! On the way from Helsinki to Stockholm we were participating in discussion about tourism in the Baltics with the representatives of key players of the industry from Germany, Mediterranean, North America, Latin America, South East Asia, Japan, India and Caucasus.

On the 13th and 14th of November the future of Nordic nature tourism is discussed. 

On October 25, we participated in the "Smart Wednesday" organized by the Latvian Rural Forum to present one of our latest projects "Change Creators. Innovative business models for the non-urban creative sectors". The main aim of the project is to contribute to innovation, sustainability and resilience of the alternative cultural and creative places (ACaCPs) located on the sparsely populated areas through discovering, testing and introducing new business models and audience development models.

During the online meeting, we informed about the project idea, goals, planned works and already completed tasks. We also shared the conclusions and recommendations that arose during the national research, surveying and interviewing alternative culture and creative places in Latvia.

Lauku ceļotājs no 18. līdz 20. oktobrim projekta "Pamatzināšanu uzlabošana tūrismā ieinteresēto personu vidū aizsargājamās dabas teritorijās ilgtspējīgākam tūrismam Ziemeļvalstu – Baltijas reģionā" ietvaros organizēja pieredzes apmaiņas braucienu tūrisma uzņēmēju pārstāvjiem no Igaunijas, Zviedrijas un Latvijas.

The Nature Tourism is one of tourism's fastest growing sectors. On October 19, Nature tourism experts from across the Baltic and Nordic region discused the emergence and development of nature-based holidays and how experiential travel is now such an important and often-requested option for our customers today. The webinar was attended by participants who are able to see and hear of the latest products to emerge in the sector and expected developments in the future, all part of the journey towards sustainable travel.
 
​​​Panellists:

• Asnate Ziemele, President, Baltic Nature Tourism, Latvia & Estonia (>>> Presentation - PDF)
• Matijs Babris, President, Latvian Nature Tourism Association (>>> Presentation - PDF)
• Sylvia Adams, Founder, Amazing Nature Scandinavia, Sweden
• Åsmund Bakke, Owner, Folgefonni Glacier Team

The community of hiking enthusiasts continues to grow; therefore, the Latvian Rural Tourism Association "Lauku ceļotājs" has come up with an initiative to make long-distance hiking routes "The Forest Trail / Mežtaka" and "The Baltic Coastal Hiking Route / Jūrtaka" more accessible to various segments of the society, including families with young children, seniors, people with mobility difficulties, or other limitations. In collaboration with organizations representing these community groups and project partners from Latvia and Estonia, environmental accessibility solutions will be developed, providing the opportunity for a wider range of the community to enjoy the hiking experience.

>>> Summary (presentations, photos, videos)

From September 21 to 22, the team of the project "Change Creators. Innovative business models for the non-urban creative sectors" met in Ascoli Piceno, Italy. It was the second meeting of partners to discuss what has already been done in the project and what is still planned.

The Code of Conduct for nature travel in Latvia provides practical guidance to visitors on how to enjoy the country's beautiful natural surroundings while being environmentally friendly and safe. It answers all questions related to traveling in nature in Latvia.

On September 18th & 19th, in Riga, 10 Latvian and Estonian tourism organizations met together and started work on a new project - Forest and Coastal Hiking Trails' accessibility improvement for different social groups. The accessibility of hiking trails will be focused on 5 target groups - 1) people with functional impairments (movement, vision, hearing); 2) for seniors; 3) for families with small children, i.e. strollers; 4) for school-aged children; 5) for people with a language or cultural barrier. Trail accessibility will be improved in separate phases.
The project will be implemented over 3 years - from July 1, 2023 to June 30, 2026. The leading partner of the project is the Latvian Rural Tourism Association "Lauku Celotajs".

>>> Agenda (PDF, ENG)
>>> Presentation (Asnāte Ziemele, LC, PDF, ENG)
>>> Presentation (Iveta Šķiliņa, RPR, PDF, ENG)
>>> Presentation (Elin Priks, Setomaa, PDF, ENG)
>>> Presentation (Ilze Liepa, VPR, PDF, ENG)
>>> Photos (Aija Neilande KPR, PDF, ENG)