Travel agents report downturn, but Air Baltic remains bullish and tourism in the region is expected to pick up (241 words)

Published: 10/23/2001

Latvian travel agents are reporting a 10% fall in traffic following the events of 11th September. According to Uldis Alksnis of travel agent, Impro, travellers are avoiding Islamic countries or countries bordering them. They also seeking to get to destinations by land transport: a situation that Alksnis believes will continue until people are reassured that the situation has stabilised More optimistically, Valerijs Seilis, Director of the Latvian Tourism Development Agency, believes that the US war against terrorism may increase the number of foreign tourists coming to the Baltic States given the perception of low-level risk. According to Vija Dzerve, spokesman for Air Baltic, the Latvian national airline, although traffic remains stable, Air Baltic will increase tickets prices by 5% from 1st November to reflect hikes in insurance premiums on cover obtained by the carrier on 2nd October, covering war risk. Dzerve says that Air Baltic's traffic is holding up, with passenger numbers up by 29% between January-September 2001 to a total of 190,907, with a 16% increase in flights over the first nine months in 2000, and an encouraging 4% increase in seat load factor to 54% over the period. During September 2001, Air Baltic served carried 16% passengers on 22% more flights (813), with seat load factor remaining unchanged at 56% compared to September 2000.

Article ID: 2849