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In 2005 the tourists in Latvian rural accommodationshave spent ~ 325.330 nights (12% more than in 2004).The average occupancy of accommodations in 2005 was17%. Although the number of tourists has increased, theaverage occupancy of tourist accommodations hasremained the same, compared to 2004 because alongsidethe demand the supply has also increased – the number oflodgings and beds.Local holidaymakers comprised 80% of the totalnights spent in rural accommodations in Latvia in 2005,while 20% were foreign tourists. However, of all thenights reserved by the tourists through the “Laukuceļotājs”, the foreign guests comprise 58%, which clearlyshows the significant role of the association in theattraction of foreign tourists.53% of the foreign tourists’ overnight stays have beenfrom Germany, Britain (7%), Finland (6%), theNetherlands (5%), France (4%) and Belgium (4%).German, Finnish, British, Swedish tourists are the maingeneration market for Latvia, comprising 36.1% ofovernight stays of foreigners in 2003 (EuropeanCommunities, Eurostat 2005c). Within the last 2 years themost rapid growth in the number of tourists has been fromEstonia, Britain, Belgium, and Germany, the number ofnights has increased (by 86%-130%). The abovementionedtrends show the importance of the Internethome pages, especially of the foreign language versions(including what language exactly).The average local tourists’ length of stay in a ruralaccommodation in 2005 was 1.4 days, but that of foreigntourists was 3.25 days which demonstrates the economicimportance of this target audience in the tourism marketin Latvia.According to the calculations of the Association, intotal the rural tourism and related activities in theterritories of Latvian countryside in 2005 may havegenerated at least 31.5 million Ls yield whichdemonstrates the significance of this sphere (LatvianCountry Tourism Association 2006).ANALYSIS OF HOME PAGE AND E-MAILAVAILABILITY IN THE TOURISTACCOMMODATIONS REGISTERED IN THEDATABASE OF THE LATVIAN RURAL TOURISMASSOCIATION “LAUKU CEĻOTĀJS”The authors of this publication explored 435 touristaccommodations included in the Latvian Rural TourismAssociation “Lauku ceļotājs” database in the wholeterritory of Latvia. The results were summarisedseparately for regions, singling out Riga and JūrmalaCities.According to the LLTA “Lauku ceļotājs” touristaccommodations – cooperation partners’ statisticalanalysis of e-mail and home page availability of therespective accommodations, we may come to thefollowing conclusions (see Table 6).Table 6. E –mail and home page availability of touristaccommodations registered in the database of LatvianRural Tourism Association “Lauku ceļotājs” (as of01.02.2006). Source: Latvian Country TourismAssociation database (2006).Region Number ofaccommodationse – mailKurzeme 141 71(50.3%)Rīga,49 47Jūrmala(95.9%)Vidzeme 152 100(65,7%)Zemgale 43 24(55.8,0%)Latgale 50 22(44.0%)Kopā 435 264(60.6%)Homepage51(36.1%)47(95.9%)63(41,4%)16(37.2%)12(24.0%)189(43.4%)• The smallest number of e – mail (less than halfcases) and home pages are in touristaccommodations in Latgale Region (24 %)(seeFigure 2);• The situation is a little better in Kurzeme andZemgale where e-mail is available in about a half(respectively 50.3 and 55.8 %) of touristaccommodations, but home pages – 36.1 and 37.2% of all tourist accommodations;• The situation is considerably better in VidzemeRegion where e-mail is available in more than ahalf of accommodations (65, 7 %), but home pagesin – 41, 4 % of them;• The situations in Riga and Jurmala are drasticallydifferent, where e-mail and home pages areavailable in > 95 % of tourist accommodations(actually with area exceptions in all touristaccommodations;• Thus, in average in the state, e-mail is available inonly a little more than a half (60, 6 %), but thehome page in less than a half (43, 4 %) of touristaccommodations that should be considered morethan insufficient. It is also an indicator ofsustainable development in the sphere of usage andaccessibility of IT technologies and infrastructurequality;Annual Proceedings of Vidzeme University College “ICTE in Regional Development”, 2006100