Narva hotels increasingly catering to Nordic tourists
Narva's hotels are hosting a growing number of Nordic tourists. In May, the May 9 events attracted the largest number of visitors, though hotel managers say Narva is in urgent need of a new high-end hotel and a year-round attraction center.
Narva has around 350 hotel beds, nearly half of them provided by the city's two largest accommodation establishments — Hotels Narva and Inger. Vladimir Aret, manager of Hotel Narva, the oldest continuously operating hotel in the city, is approaching the coming summer with cautious optimism. The hotel's main guests are independent domestic travelers, but Nordic and Central European tour groups are becoming increasingly prominent and already account for nearly a quarter of overnight stays at the hotel.
"We are clearly seeing growing interest from visitors from Finland, Scandinavia and Central Europe. In my opinion, this is our new audience, one that increasingly values the uniqueness of the place, its history and the cultural depth of Narva. There is Narva Castle, there is the Kreenholm Manufactory. Interest is growing," Aret said.
Speaking about the bottlenecks facing summer tourism, Aret said Narva could benefit from more events highlighting local cultural distinctiveness and culinary experiences that would appeal to domestic tourists. But the biggest issue is the shortage of accommodation. It is often the case that the organizers of a major music festival book out an entire hotel for participants, leaving festival guests to seek accommodation elsewhere. There is an especially acute shortage of higher-quality lodging.
"All the major events we organize here cannot accommodate everyone interested in coming. It is also a major problem that Narva lacks hotel rooms at the four-star level for higher-spending clients," Aret said.
Narva's other major hotel, the 80-bed Inger, is still basking in the glow of May 9 when all accommodation establishments in the border city were completely sold out.
According to hotel manager Vladimir Izotov, tour groups from Japan, Singapore and Latvia arrived to observe the geopolitical standoff across the border on May 9, so, in his view, the city could repeat May 9 every other day.
More seriously, however, Izotov believes Narva does not so much need additional large summer events as it does a permanent year-round attraction center, similar to the Ahhaa Science Center in Tartu, which would bring tourists to Narva throughout the year.
At present, summer occupancy rates at Narva hotels still depend largely on major music and sporting events, the next of which are Narva Days and the Narva City Run taking place in early June.
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Editor: Marcus Turovski, Mirjam Mäekivi
