There is a growing interest in Daugavpils as a tourist destination City news
Daugavpils City Municipality Tourism Development and Information Agency has compiled the information about the number of visits to the tourist attractions, culture, sports and leisure institutions in Daugavpils in 2019. The data reveals that Daugavpils continues to develop as an interesting and diverse tourist destination which is annually visited by thousands of tourists from Latvia and abroad.
In 2019, 609,937 visits by Latvian and foreign guests were registered to the tourist attractions, culture, sports and leisure institutions, which is 11% more than last year. 78% of the total number of visits were visits by the residents of Latvia (including visits of residents of Daugavpils – 25%), and 22% were visits by foreign guests.
In 2019, visitors from 58 countries were registered in Daugavpils. Most of the foreign visitors came from Lithuania (20% of the total number of visits by foreign travellers), Russia (6%) and Poland (5%), United Kingdom (4%), Germany (4%), Belarus (3%), Estonia (2%), Netherlands (2%), Sweden (2%), Norway (1%), USA (1%) and other, or unregistered countries (51%). Last year, Daugavpils was visited by tourists from distant countries of the world, for example, Japan, India, Mexico, China, South Korea, Egypt, Nigeria, Argentina, Brazil, etc.
The most popular tourist objects concerning the number of visits by foreign travellers were Daugavpils Fortress, including Daugavpils Fortress Culture and Information Centre and the Guardroom of the 1st Coastal Lunette, Daugavpils Mark Rothko Art Centre, “The Chest of Memories” Exposition of Historic Costumes and “White Horse” Art Gallery, Latgale Zoo, Shmakovka Museum, Daugavpils Lead Shot Factory, Daugavpils Innovation Centre, Church Hill, Daugavpils Regional Studies and Art Museum and Daugavpils Bat Centre. The other objects such as Daugavpils Synagogue and “Jewish of Daugavpils and Latgale” Museum, Family Digital Activity Hub of the Latgale Central Library, Daugavpils Clay Art Centre, the Exposition of Medical History and “Mani Latvijas stāsti” (“My Latvian Stories”) Exposition, Screen Printing Studio, Latvian House and “Medicīnas izstāde ar kontracepcijas ekspozīciju” (“Medical Exhibition with Exposition of Birth Control Items”) Exposition.
The data compiled by the Central Statistical Bureau shows that 71,067 guests stayed in Daugavpils for overnight in 2019, that is by 10% more than in 2018. The number of nights spent by visitors reached 106,499 nights (+7%). In 2019, the number of foreign visitors increased by 7%, whereas the number of nights spent by those people increased by 6% and reached 44,801 nights.
Last year's tourist season in Daugavpils became more diverse, family friendly and attractive as new tourism products and offers came out. Some of the seasonal novelties were Family Digital Activity Hub of the Latgale Central Library, “Medicīnas izstāde ar kontracepcijas ekspozīciju” (“Medical Exhibition with Exposition of Birth Control Items”) Exposition in Daugavpils Fortress, “Mani Latvijas stāsti” (“My Latvian Stories”) Exposition in Daugavpils Medical College and new exhibition of Mark Rothko’s original works in Daugavpils Mark Rothko Art Centre. The rental of electric scooters and electric bicycles, as well as go-cart rental service is available now for city guests. Pleasant news for nature and activity lovers last season was the development of the Central Beach of Lielais Stropu Lake that offers various leisure activities – a unique lake pontoon construction, a pedestrian route for walks, a bicycle path for cyclists, an area for sports activities, changing rooms, benches and other amenities.
In 2019, the biggest events and festivals held in Daugavpils were visited by a large number of visitors and travellers, for example, Daugavpils City Festival, Museum Night, Art Night, “Dinaburg 1812” 5th International Festival of the Military Historical Reconstruction, 1st International Festival of Street Theatres and Clownery, Rīgas Street Festival and others.
In 2019, 22,777 information requests were registered in Daugavpils Tourist Information Centre, which is by 27% more compared to last year. Foreign travellers (26%) and travellers from other cities and regions of Latvia, incl. Daugavpils residents (74%) used the services provided by the centre. Requests for tourism information were received from representatives of 49 countries but mostly from tourists from Lithuania (42% of the total number of requests from foreign travellers), Russia (14%), Germany (9%), Belarus (5%), Denmark (3%), Poland (3%), Estonia (3%) ), Turkey (3%), Netherlands (2%), and other countries.
The visits of foreign journalists, travel bloggers and representatives of travel agencies to Daugavpils were organised in 2019. Information about Daugavpils was spread in Latvian, Lithuanian and Estonian Tourist Information Centres, international tourism exhibitions and various international events in more than 18 different countries. What’s more, an important event took place in the tourism industry of Daugavpils - the 2nd International Tourism Matchmaking Event “Daugavpils – take your time, have a rest and enjoy” that was attended by representatives of more than 50 travel agencies from 6 countries.
Information prepared by:
Karolina Dedele
Daugavpils City Municipality Tourism Development and Information Agency
Phone: +371 65422818; +371 26444810
E-mail: turisms@daugavpils.lv
Web: www.visitdaugavpils.lv
Facebook: www.facebook.com/Daugavpils.travel
