We Won't Shy Away from Costs: Riga's Money Will Go to an American Rapper and a Scottish DJ 0 18

Representatives of the Latvian tourism industry doubt whether such large-scale musical events can truly be an effective way to attract a significant number of tourists to Riga.

For example, people travel to Paris for the Louvre, the Champs-Élysées, the Eiffel Tower, and Notre-Dame Cathedral; to London for St. Stephen's Tower (now Elizabeth Tower) with its clock and the Big Ben bell, Tower Bridge, Baker Street, and the building at 10 Downing Street. Interestingly, the Eiffel Tower was once slated for demolition, and the Cathedral burned down but was restored.

However, Riga lacks such world-famous structures, which are casually advertised in nearly every French or British film. A DJ is just one day, and Riga is neither the first nor the only city where he will perform.

According to the Central Statistical Bureau, the number of foreign tourists in Latvia fell by 7.2% in the first quarter.

The leadership of the Association of Travel Agencies and Operators of Latvia sees no reasons for a surge in tourism, and the goal set this year to increase the number of foreign tourists by 150,000 people does not currently seem realistic.

Although later there will be no one to ask anyway: the rain, wind, closed straits, rising fuel prices, canceled flights, fears of lost drones, the economic situation in the world – anyone but the planners will be blamed. It seems they work in a fortune-telling salon rather than a reputable institution, so – "who could have known"...