- ✓Digitalisation matters because the way guests find and book has changed since 2019. More of them are locals who book online, a growing share of travellers plan trips with AI, and at the current pace an estimate puts online selling among Latvian hotels, cafes and restaurants at about 56% by 2033. A small spa, pirts, tasting or workshop that cannot be found and booked online at the moment a guest decides often loses that guest to a place that can.
- ✓Local guests in Latvian accommodation: Share of locals 31.8% in 2019, 40.7% in 2025 (Eurostat tour_occ_arnat, 2025 data)
- ✓Latvian residents booking accommodation online: 3.0% in 2021, 11.7% in 2025, within 3 months; EU 21.7%, Estonia 24.1% (Eurostat isoc_ec_ibgs, 2025)
- ✓Travellers planning trips with AI: 10% in 2024, 18% in 2025 (European Travel Commission, Monitoring Sentiment for Intra-European Travel, Q3 2025)
- ✓Latvian hotels, cafes and restaurants selling online: 22.6% (2019 survey), 34.1% (2025 survey) (Eurostat isoc_ec_eseln2, 10+ people); estimate at current pace about 56% in 2033
- ✓Micro businesses in Latvian tourism and food service: 80.9% have fewer than 10 people (Eurostat sbs_sc_ovw, 2024); online sales statistics do not measure them
01What a small tourism business wants from the season
The owner of a spa, a pirts, a tasting room or a craft workshop in Riga, Tallinn or Vilnius usually wants the same thing. Guests who find the place, understand the price and book a free time, without the owner spending the evening on the phone. The calendar should fill on quiet weekdays too, not only on Saturdays in July.
That goal has not changed in years. What has changed is the path a guest takes before booking, and the change has a clear direction.
022019: guests from abroad, bookings by phone
In 2019 most guests in Latvian accommodation came from abroad: locals made up 31.8% (Eurostat touroccarnat). Selling online was still a minority habit in the sector. In the Eurostat survey of 2019, 22.6% of Latvian hotels, cafes and restaurants with 10 or more people sold online, against 30.6% in the EU (Eurostat isoceceseln2).
Smaller places, spas, saunas and experiences lived on phone calls, walk-ins, word of mouth and a desk at the hotel. A guest found them on the spot and booked by talking to someone.
032025-2026: locals, online booking and AI planning
Demand is back, but it is a different demand. In 2025 Latvian accommodation hosted 2.82 million guests, 98.9% of the 2019 level. Foreign guests were 14.1% fewer, local guests 26.6% more, and the share of locals rose to 40.7% (Eurostat touroccarnat, 2025 data, updated 12.10.2026). Estonia and Lithuania follow the same pattern.
Locals also book online far more often. The share of Latvian residents who booked accommodation online within three months grew from 3.0% in 2021 to 11.7% in 2025; the EU average is 21.7% and Estonia 24.1% (Eurostat isocecibgs, 2025). Businesses moved too: 34.1% of Latvian hotels, cafes and restaurants sold online in the 2025 survey, covering 2024 sales, while the EU stands at 40.7%, Estonia at 45.8% and Lithuania at 51.6% (Eurostat isoceceseln2).
A new habit arrived on top. The share of European travellers who plan a trip with AI went from 10% in 2024 to 18% in 2025 (European Travel Commission, Q3 2025). Since 2025 AI assistants can book on behalf of a guest, and in October 2025 large booking companies launched apps inside AI chats. Online travel agencies already handled 29.6% of hotel bookings in Europe in 2023, up from 19.7% in 2013 (HOTREC European Hotel Distribution Study 2024).
042030-2033: where the trend points
If the current pace holds, an estimate puts the share of Latvian hotels, cafes and restaurants selling online at about 49% in 2030 and about 56% in 2033. This is a projection, not a fact, but the direction matches the rest of Europe. The EU target is 90% of small and medium businesses with basic digital intensity by 2030; in 2025 Latvia had 58.5%, the EU 71.4%, Estonia 72.1% and Lithuania 73.5% (Eurostat isocedii).
Estonia has set its own goal: tourism services bookable online in real time, from 37% to 65% by 2029 (Estonian Tourism Action Plan 2026-2029). Latvia has no numeric target for this (EM and LIAA documents, checked 05.11.2026). Taken together, the numbers describe one shift: the guest decides on a screen, often with AI, and expects to book in the same minute.
05The problem: small places stay unseen at the minute of choice
Say a guest asks an AI assistant on a Thursday evening: "A pirts evening for four near Riga on Saturday?" The answer can only include places whose free times and booking page can be read online. A business that lives in a paper diary, a phone and an Instagram inbox stays invisible at the exact minute the guest decides.
This is most of the market. In Latvia 80.9% of tourism and food service businesses have fewer than 10 people (Eurostat sbsscovw, 2024), and spas, saunas and experiences are not counted in online sales statistics at all.
06Paths that work, and their limits
A clear website. Services, prices, address and a way to book on one page help both people and AI assistants understand the business. A website without free times still sends the guest to the phone, and many guests do not call at 22:00.
One calendar for everything. Keeping every booking in one place, for example Google Calendar, is the base for any online booking. A time booked on one connected channel closes on the others, but a phone booking that never reaches the calendar is not protected, so owners do well to enter phone bookings right away.
Experience marketplaces. Platforms where travellers book experiences reach visitors from abroad. Getting listed takes time, and each platform has its own rules and terms.
Directories that AI agents read. A directory gives AI agents real free times and a link to book on the business's own site. It is an additional channel, not a replacement for the website or the regulars. No one can promise that an AI assistant will recommend a given place; the choice depends on the brand, its content and its guest reviews.
The role of BookBaltic in this process
Today BookBaltic connects through the business's own website. This is live at HEADSPA, a Riga head spa studio run by the BookBaltic founding team: AI agents that read the BookBaltic directory see its real free times and send the guest to its booking page. Connecting the business's calendar, for example Google Calendar, without changing its system is in preparation and coming soon, and a Book button on tourism portals is coming soon too. The guest always books and pays on the business's own site, and the business stays the seller. With the consent of connected businesses, BookBaltic can also collect summary data on where bookings come from, including AI assistants. Its limit is clear: it does not choose places for guests and does not replace the brand's own work on its story and reviews. The guide on how one booking travels to your calendar shows the path step by step.
How to measure what such projects add
Today the trend above cannot be seen where it matters most. Official statistics leave out micro businesses and do not measure spas, saunas and experiences, and Latvia has no indicator for how many tourism services can be booked online. Data from connected businesses can fill part of that gap.
Such data can show the share of services bookable online in real time, the channels bookings come from, including AI assistants, how many days ahead guests book, and the split between locals and foreigners. The contribution of a project like this can be measured in plain terms: the number and share of connected businesses, the share of their services with online booking, and the bookings that come from AI assistants. Until a summary is published, these remain possibilities, not statistics.
07What it gives guests and locals
Locals in Riga, Tallinn and Vilnius look for something new near home: a weekend outside the city, a gift, an evening for two. They want to see the price and book in a minute. For a small business that means a chance at guests on quiet days and fewer missed calls; for the region, small places that are part of the Baltic offer, not hidden behind it. Online sales in Latvian hospitality are covered in more detail in the guide on how a small business in Latvia can reach tourists.
08What every business can do this season
- ✓Put services, prices, address and opening hours on the website, in English and in the local language.
- ✓Keep every booking in one calendar, including phone bookings.
- ✓Show free times online so a guest can book without calling.
- ✓Ask guests to leave a review where they found the business.
- ✓Check how the business appears when someone asks an AI assistant about the city and the category.
- ✓Choose one extra channel and connect it to the same calendar.
Businesses that want to be bookable this way can connect to BookBaltic.
Questions and answers
Is digitalisation only about foreign tourists?+
No. In Latvia local guests made up 40.7% of accommodation guests in 2025, and locals increasingly book online. A small business that can be found and booked online reaches both groups.
Does a small business need to change its booking system to be bookable online?+
No. Many owners keep their calendar, booking system or website and add channels around it. BookBaltic connects through the business's website today; connecting a calendar such as Google Calendar without changing the system is coming soon. What matters is that every booking ends up in one calendar.
Why do official statistics not show how bookable small tourism businesses are?+
Eurostat online sales figures cover businesses with 10 or more people, while most Latvian tourism businesses are smaller, and spas, saunas and experiences are not measured separately. Data shared by connected businesses can show part of that picture.