Riga Rooster

-

The Riga Rooster was talking about this possibility over a year ago. He pecked that unless the Latvian Tourism Authorities begin to take action to improve the image of Latvia abroad this situation might occur. And it appears that it has according to the latest Business News in Latvia last week.

Hotels being sold off in Riga
As market tightens, older hotels are being abandoned

From www.Standbynews.info Monday 30 June 2008

Latvia’s hotel industry is experiencing a crisis, according to this article, and three hotels in Riga have been put up for sale. After Latvia’s accession to the European Union in 2004, the number of hotels in the city and its outer district grew considerably, a trend that accelerated also due to the World Ice Hockey Championships in 2005. Last year, 5.234 million foreigners crossed Latvia’s border. But in the first quarter of 2008, the number of tourists in Latvia decreased y-o-y for the first time since 2004. At the end of 2007, 400 places of accommodation were available in Latvia. Meanwhile, eight new hotels have been unveiled in Riga so far this year, for example, the Reval Hotel Elizabete and the Nordic Hotel Bellevue. The Atlantija Hotel, which first opened in the Soviet period, will be auctioned off in October. These days the building resembels nothing more than a run-down hostel. It is also possible that the 3-star, 68-room Bruninieks Hotel will be sold too.

Biznes&Baltija, 2008-06-27

The Rooster's last thoughts...

The statistics on the number of people crossing the borders is very misleading and not representative of tourism. Many of the border crossings are from Latvia's neighbors just swinging across for a short visit, to have lunch and maybe even stay overnight. But, that is NOT tourism and these visitors do not contribute many NEW MONEY into the tourism economy.

Our guess of statistics for numbers of nigh stay is that it has decreased from around 3.8 nights in 2003 to about 1.8 nights in 2007/2008.

Most of the foreign visitors are those that choose to come, live cheaply and drink their pockets empty. Most of these monies don't find the pockets of the tourism providers either. They line the paper bags of the clever few that have found a way to make a killing from the drinkers stumbling off/on the Ryan Air and other lowcost flights.

Shame on the Latvian Transport Minister and the other leaders of Latvias Tourism and Police sectors for NOT making a plan as the first Ryan Air flight touched down. There is still no plan and only action being done is chasing the drunks around the freedom Monument to stop peeing on the monument and to have them pull up their pants.

SHAME on Latvia's leadership , this rooster crows loudly.

.

-

Annual inflation in April at 8.9% from: http://www.leta.lv

RIGA, May 10 (LETA) - Inflation in Latvia keeps rising: in April, compared to April 2006, consumer prices increased 8.9 percent, according to the Central Statistical Bureau's data.

Prices for goods grew 7.5 percent in April, and prices for services 12.7 percent.

Compared to this past March, average consumer price level in April rose 0.9 percent. Prices for both goods and services increased 0.9 percent.

Higher prices for vegetables, fuel and catering services, increased water supply tariffs had the greatest effect on consumer price changes in April.

As reported, last year consumer prices in Latvia grew 6.8 percent: prices for services increased 6.4 percent and prices for goods grew 7.9 percent. Inflation in 2005 totaled 7 percent.

Žanete Hāka LETA

more news: http://www.latviatravel.info/news/

-

WOW! another record for Latvia hear the cheers - ups, no that is tears.

It is clear that the best plans of the police are still not working or perhaps there is no plan?

Latvia lacks a culture of personal safety and it is a serious flaw in their leaderships' abilities.

Once again we are reminded of a tragic loss of life on Latvian soil.

Life that should NOT have been placed in harms way by the caretakers of our country.

Its all about leadership! Latvia needs to develop a culture of awareness for importance of protecting the health and safety of its citizens. Even more, each Latvian needs to develop the same awareness and desire to protect ones heath and safety.

Its all the same weather we are speaking about fire safety, safety on the roads and highways, pedestrian safety, worker safety, or the safety of our disadvantaged and our children!

Just stop and take a few minutes each day as you are going about your daily lives and pay attention to what is going on around you.

Workers cutting metal, wood and bricks without wearing safety glasses.

Bus, tram and trolley bus drivers driving with one hand while talking on a cell phone with their other hand. Or eating, or adjusting the radio, or talking with the conductor.
Vehicle drivers talking on their cell phones.

Drivers speeding on city streets sometimes several times greater than the speed limits.

Electrical wiring practices sometimes no better than third world countries.

Safety does not simply "happen"! Safety is a result of people paying attention to something important each and every minute of every day!

Safety awareness needs to be "built in" to our daily habits.

There are numerous websites, reports, and best practices on the psychology, the importance and how to accomplish safety awareness.

May I suggest that Latvia needs to put in place a Risk and Safety Czar. A person with demonstrated leadership and projected "fatherly" image. A person that will lead the way to develop practices and programs to bring about a paradigm shift in how Latvians feel about
safety.

Its time to take some serious action. Ask the Prime Minister to stop stoking the fire on his "tea kettle" politics and spend some time focusing on other basics that Latvians face in their daily life.

The Rooster is crying


RIGA, April 10 (LETA) http://www.leta.lv

108 people have died in traffic accidents in Latvia in the first three months of the year, which is 40 percent more than in the first three months of 2006, according to data from the Highway Police.

77 people were killed in traffic accidents in the first three months of 2006, and 84 in the respective period in 2005.

1,177 people sustained injuries in accidents in the past three months - a 33 percent increase over the respective period in 2006.

The largest number of fatalities in the first three months of the year were registered in Riga - 24, in Riga District - 26, in Jelgava District - seven, in Limbazi and Jekabpils district - five and four in Tukums District.

In all, 8,140 traffic accidents, including 958 with casualties, were registered in Latvia in the first three months of the year. This is 14 percent more than in the respective period of 2006.

Aija Rutka LETA

All I can say is that the Latvian leadership is acting like an Ostrich bird, hiding their heads in the sand!

There are plenty of issues that need to be addressed that are the root cause of the current problem.

But in the past eight years that I have been paying attention, I see no serious signs of leadership to turn the direction of this freight train.

The wall is not moving much either.

The mood in Latvia is 'me me me' greed all the way. No long term thinking; it only what I can put in my pocket today and keep from the pocket of my neighbor.

Employee morale is in the toilet and worker creativity, productivity is zero or even negative.

The issues include the lack of a culture for personal safety as well which has lead to the high highway accident rate and the disturbing fire that cost 26 lives this winter.

Leadership is the key and there appears to be none.

More of my thoughts: http://www.livethetalk.com

-


Riga - Annual inflation in Latvia in March jumped to 8.5 per cent, the highest figure in a decade, the Latvian Statistics Bureau announced on Wednesday.

The figure is the highest seen in Latvia since a financial crisis in mid-1997, Oskars Alksnis of the bureau's consumer price department told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.