Zeszyt naukowy - całość - Wydział ZarzÄ dzania i Ekonomiki Usług

Neglected use of creative… 107
event. Noteworthy becomes annual Riga’s Opera music festival – this tradition was
established in 1998 to promote cultural tourism and The Latvian National Opera
abroad.
Cultural tourism is becoming more and more popular – a survey conducted by
Marketing and Public Opinion Research Centre 17 SKDS in 2008 among Nordic
(Finland, Sweden, Norway) and Russian tourists visiting Riga shows that cultural
heritage, architecture and cultural events are primary attractions for 62% tourists
from Nordic countries and 58% from Russia. The findings of the research showed
that Internet is the most popular source of information (for 74% Russian and 80%
Nordic tourists) and the lack of information about events is mentioned as one of the
serious obstacles for tourists willing to visit the capital of Latvia. The city exists
and ‘lives’ on numerous websites. Those provided by the city government and public
organizations have the express purpose of marketing and presenting the city.
However, there is no single website where foreign tourists could find all-embracing
information about various cultural activities in the city.
Unfortunately the processes in tourism and cultural industry have been affected
by the lack of funding that would facilitate renovation and creation of tourism
and culture infrastructure. However, trends of tourism development foster creation
of new products, forming new territorial units. Such privately financed ongoing
example in Riga is Spīķeru area, where old historic warehouses are being renovated
and transformed in culture centre with such activities like museums, cinemas, exhibition
halls and art galleries. Also a small street – Mūrnieku Street is a good example
– it is being renovated in its authentic shape and will be turned into a street of
craftsmanship devised for tourists.
Traditional cultural institutions like theatres are not widely involved in tourism
and recognized as considerable resources for cultural tourism. This results from
the lack of collaboration models among local government institutions and cultural
institutions. Also cooperation among private tourism agencies and cultural institutions
would contribute to foster cultural tourism in Riga.
For establishing Riga as internationally recognized tourist destination developers
of Riga city should represent the role cultural aspect plays in the city management.
Riga will be European Capital of Culture in 2014, the formal nomination
of Riga by the EU Council of Ministers is expected in May 2010. This is a great
opportunity for the city to offer purposefully not only traditional forms of art and
culture, but also stress the role of creative industries for the development of the city.
17
2008.
Krievijas un Skandināvijas tūristu aptauja, Sabiedriskās domas pētījumu centrs, Rīga