VILNIUS — The numbers don’t lie; even Vilnius’ status as European Capital of Culture 2009 could not stop the massive drop in foreign tourists visiting Lithuania this year.
Of course, the project had the January shutdown of national airline flyLAL and the worldwide economic crisis as challenges to overcome in bringing in additional tourist revenue, and they proved to be too much to overcome. According to the Lithuanian Department of Statistics’ latest room occupancy rates, the 2009 numbers from January to September (the end of what most local travel agencies consider to be “tourist season”) show a 21.8 percent decrease from the same period in 2008.
The news is especially hard for local hotels, which saw the value-added tax on room stays increase from 5 percent to 21 percent as part of the government’s anti-crisis plan, putting a crimp on the profit margin of already down revenue.
Evalda Šiškauskienė, president of the Lithuanian Hotel and Restaurant Association, says a lack of marketing abroad by the government promoting Lithuania as a tourist destination during the Capital of Culture year is one of culprits of the decline.
“On tourists’ map of the world, there is no good image of Lithuania at all,” Šiškauskienė told Baltic Reports.
Hmm, it’s rather interesting. A stay in Holiday Inn in Munich costs about €50-60 per room per night. In Vilnius the price is about the same BEFORE the VAT increase. Knowing that land (for either rent or purchase) in Vilnius costs much less than in Munich and staff is paid just about 1/4 of what they are paid in Germany (or any other rich Western European country) there naturally arises a question WHY do the guests have to pay so much? In Bangkok, on the other hand, where land and real estate prices are about the same as in Vilnius and average incomes are about the same too, hotels normally cost about 30-50% less than in Vilnius. WHY WHY WHY? Do the hotel owners/operators in Lithuania think that people are completely stupid and don’t know what they are paying for? Guys, wake up, you can’t charge unrealistic money for your service while at the same time complaining about increasing taxes. I guess I’d just rather go to the ‘cheap’ Munich or Frankfurt to spend my holidays and stay in a cheaper gotel, rent a cheaper (yet better) car and eat cheaper food and the most luxurious restaurants. Or perhaps some of us have to land back on earth and start trying to figure out about such uncomprehensible things as efficiency, productivity and operating costs. Money doesn’t come the easy way and it takes some effort sometimes.