DMC chairman warns against cuts to marketing budget

Vlad Koriagin, chairman of the board of the destination management company Baltic Travel Group, thinks that in spite of everything tourism is one of the key industries that still brings profits to the Latvian economy. The economic crisis has seriously dented Latvia’s tourism industry, but expenditure for marketing activities should not be reduced as it attracts tourists and has a positive impact on the performance of the industry. Koriagin emphasizes the importance of the state’s continued financial assistance; further cuts would be damaging to the health of the tourism industry. The number of incoming business trips will be hurt the most, he says, and as these bring three-to-four times greater profits than leisure tourism the damage will be all the greater. On the positive side, he says that significant numbers of tourists from Asia, Scandinavia and Germany can be expected in the Baltics in the near future.

Bizness & Baltija, 2009-04-16