“Bite”: this year the most visited countries for Latvian travelers were Lithuania and Ukraine

This year, travelers from Latvia in the European Economic Area (EEA) most often visited Lithuania, but outside it – Ukraine, according to the data of the mobile communications and information and communication technology (ICT) service provider “Bite”.

Also, in seven months of this year, travelers abroad have used 19% more mobile internet compared to the same period in 2020. This trend has been mainly influenced by the change in the communication habits of the population, more often using various mobile applications for communication outside Latvia.

Bite data show that alongside Lithuania, Estonia, Germany, Poland and Sweden are among the most visited EEA countries this year. In turn, outside the EEA, travelers from Latvia most often went not only to Ukraine, but also to Russia, Belarus, Great Britain and Turkey.

In July 2021, compared to the corresponding period last year, the amount of Internet used by travelers in the EEA countries has increased by 36%, outside the EEA – almost 12 times. This sharp increase outside the EEA is due to the volume of data consumed in the UK, which has not been included in the EEA since the beginning of this year. In July of this year, the Internet was used the most in such European countries as Germany, Lithuania, Estonia, Sweden and Poland. However, looking at southern countries, which are often also popular summer tourist destinations, it can be seen that travelers have consumed the most mobile data in Italy, Spain, France, Greece and Bulgaria.

In general, currently the amount of data consumed while roaming, used by one customer, has reached the largest in the history of Bite. But the amount of data now consumed by one traveler has increased 2.4 times compared to August 2019.

Una-Ahuna Ozola, Head of Corporate and Public Relations, Bite

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“As the epidemiological constraints change, more and more people go on trips outside Latvia. True, we see that this year people have traveled the most to foreign countries. By contrast, Turkey has been the most popular holiday destination for warm countries on an annual basis, with Italy and Spain standing out in July. Of course, even though we resume travel, it will still take time to return to the 2019 level. At the same time, it is clear that travelers’ communication habits have changed rapidly, which has also had an impact on the pandemic and its accelerated digitalisation. For example, if in the past classic phone calls and text messages were often used for communication, now people are increasingly using various mobile applications, such as WhatsApp, Signal, Telegram, etc., for conversations, correspondence, sending photos, video calls, which have a direct impact. on mobile data consumption. “

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The fact that people are resuming travel step by step is also confirmed by the Latvian Association of Travel Agents and Operators, adding that the demand for travel is still not comparable to the time before the pandemic.

“We see that not only the easing of epidemiological restrictions, but also the availability of vaccination has encouraged people to travel to, for example, Greece and Turkey, which are the most popular destinations in warm countries this year. At the same time, it is clear that people are still cautious and prefer to visit nearby countries privately, for example, by personal transport and the like, ”said Astrīda Trupovniece, the executive director of the association.

It has already been reported that the turnover of the Bite Latvija Group last year was 120 million euros, which is 5.5% more than a year earlier.