Latvia stands out in the business tourism sector with its high quality of event services and the ability to create engaging, meaningful and innovative experiences for conference and other event participants. A network of professional event management agencies and appropriate infrastructure provide a full-cycle service from planning to coordination and organisation.
Formula for success
Latvia is an attractive destination for MICE events, as it provides compact and convenient logistics, competitive prices, fast and reliable internet and services of high-level hospitality professionals. Latvia’s creative potential and ability to combine traditions with innovative, cosmopolitan solutions ensure a convincing position in the international market.
The accessibility of the destination is enhanced by the network of “AirBaltic” and other international air carriers with approximately 90 to 100 direct connections per year in Europe and beyond. In attracting customers, the emphasis is on the European audience, which has not yet become familiar with Latvia and Riga as an event venue, and new event formats, technologies and innovations offered by local event agencies are also crucial.
No less important – the Latvian tourism industry is accelerating towards sustainable solutions. This includes the use of environmentally friendly transport, responsible logistics and high-quality local gastronomy, which helps to achieve high standards and strengthen the reputation of the destination. It should be emphasised that in October 2025, MICHELIN announced the third expanded edition of the Latvian guide, in which the number of recommended restaurants reaches 34 – this raises the bar for quality for closing dinners and VIP programmes.
Latest trends
Global tourism trends in recent years are increasingly in line with what Latvia has to offer. Under the influence of climate change, travellers who used to enjoy summers in places like Portugal, Greece, Spain, and even the Mediterranean regions of the African continent are increasingly choosing these destinations in spring or autumn, but prefer cooler Northern Europe in summer. The Northern European direction is also becoming relevant for wealthier travellers from hot regions, who first choose individual vacations away from the sultry summers in their place of residence, but may later return for business trips and business purposes. Consequently, the Baltic States, including Latvia, which were previously considered a less attractive destination in summer, are becoming increasingly attractive.
Since travellers from Russia and Belarus are no longer particularly welcome in Latvia, other directions are being purposefully developed. Special plans are related to the Nordic countries and also Poland, whose rapid economic growth and the increasing prosperity of its residents and companies create good conditions for an increase in the number of Polish tourists and business travellers in Latvia.
Targeted work
The Latvian Investment and Development Agency (LIAA) is positioning Latvia as one of the leaders in business events in Northern Europe for international partners, also pointing to a 10% growth in the segment of organised business meetings and separate resources for promoting MICE in 2025. This strategy materialised in March of this year, when a three-day event “Events Club Associations Forum” (ECAF) was held in Riga with more than 150 planners and suppliers. The event emphasised that Riga’s location, infrastructure and culture together create an ideal environment for building new partnerships.
Riga is establishing itself as a “New Nordic” destination for association events. This story is also made increasingly convincing by the “International Congress and Convention Association” (ICCA) 2024 indicators, in which Latvia and Riga occupy significant places in the global ranking.
The work of the Latvian Convention Bureau
In order to create competitive and unique offers, the goals of the Latvian business and event tourism development are aimed at creating a unique offer characteristic of Latvia. The Head of the Latvian Convention Bureau I. Riekstiņa emphasises that every guest of Latvia should be able to experience something unusual at their destination, for example, an annual festival or a special, continuously developed object, observing the “goal within a goal” principle.
Last year, the Latvian Convention Bureau managed to attract European funding for the creation of a cooperation network and the development of new products related to business and event tourism. As part of the project, the organisation will offer certification for events in accordance with sustainability requirements for the next three years. One of the most striking technical solutions will be the creation of digital cards for participants, which would facilitate both registration and the participant’s own activities during the event, thus abandoning the use of printed materials. In cooperation with the LIAA and the Riga Investment and Tourism Agency, international and local activities are being implemented to promote Latvian business event ideas globally while strengthening their importance among local entrepreneurs.
Innovation and international recognition
Latvia has attracted the attention of the MICE industry in recent years with a very practical combination of creativity and innovation: the small scale allows professionals in the field to work together quickly, but the result is internationally noticeable. This is clearly evidenced by the fact that the Eventex 2025 Top 100 Event Organisers and Agencies list includes two Latvian creative agencies – Luka and Skudras Metropole alongside the world’s big players. These successes are also accompanied by EXPO-level recognition – the Baltic pavilion EXPO 2025 Osaka this fall received the silver award in the People’s Choice category and 5th place in the Best Mascot category at the World Expolympics 2025 organised by TEDA, which once again demonstrates our strong tradition of experience design.
Event agency Luka – high standards and international recognition
Latvian event agency Luka has been the most recognised agency in the Baltics, Scandinavia and Northwestern Europe for the past 7 years and has been included in the world's TOP 20 best agencies for five years in a row, winning its industry's “Oscars” and the highest awards in all the most prestigious competitions in the world – Eventex, BEA World, German Design Award, Heavent Awards, Symbol Creative Award, etc. In 2025, the agency won the Grand Prix for the second time in a row, which no agency in the world had managed to do before.
It is significant that the Luka agency has won in a wide variety of categories – best cultural event, art event, concert, design communication, B2I, B2B, low-budget event, property project, sustainability event, best change management event, best event concept, best story told through the event, best scenography – which proves its interdisciplinary and strategic vision. In 2025, the agency was also recognised as the most creative agency in Europe.
Inese Lukaševska, the founder of the Luka agency, explains that the team combines architecture, design and art elements with strategic thinking in projects to create a meaningful experience. She emphasises that the goal of every event organised by the Luka agency is for participants to experience an extraordinary environment, where each element is carefully designed and aimed at activating all five senses. Therefore, design communication is essential, but the scenography of an event is like a living organism, where decorations, food, artists, sound and scent become integral and self-sufficient components that carry the story of the event and the meaning encoded in it. She points out that Luka events are interdisciplinary and involve experts from various fields – from mountaineers to scientists. At the same time, the boundaries between artistic disciplines are broken down, where each retains its own identity, yet they merge, creating new qualities. The goal is to stimulate the senses and provide an immersive experience, where form goes hand in hand with content. Technologies, including AI, drones, animations, kinetic and LED solutions, are used only if they help develop the theme, deepen the idea and achieve the goal.
When asked about the latest, internationally award-winning event Strings of the Soul, the founder of the agency Luka says that the idea was to talk about neurology and human health in a contemporary, meaningful, and aesthetically challenging form. “For us, scenography is not just a stage or a fragment of decor – every element is a part of the dramaturgy: a dancer, a waiter, food, light, movement, silence. We created a hall like a mirror, where a sophisticated audience like neurology professors from 12 countries saw their reflection in every plane, 360 degrees. Whether it was the ceiling, wall, tabletop or extraordinary hand-made dishes. The goal was to promote empathy among people working in the medical sector, by showing the lives of patients through an extraordinary and meaningful art form – from existence in complete darkness to the ability to enjoy life in full colours thanks to a successful treatment process. We literally allowed the audience to feel how the patient feels: complete darkness, sensory borderline situations. The waiters, who were also dancers, danced on a mirrored floor 50 cm away from the viewer and were at the same time part of the story, part of a living scenography,” the event outline says. I. Lukaševska, adding that in this way the story is told through space, body, sound and taste.
Event agency Skudras Metropole – challenges and achievements
Gundega Skudriņa, creative director, producer and chairman of the board of Skudras Metropole, says that the agency works with projects in France, Germany, Finland, Austria, the Netherlands, the Baltics, etc., and its client portfolio includes world-renowned brands, including Porsche, Rolls-Royce, HUGO BOSS and Löfbergs. In her opinion, creativity and innovation are the only way to remain competitive, which is why each event is created from scratch, based on the client’s goals, market research and analysis of current trends, always seeking a balance between form and content.
The agency widely uses industry synergy, from chemists, researchers, scientists, designers, architects, to the widest spectrum of artists, and multisensory approaches to create a personally engaging experience for the audience. In large-format events, the scenography, atmosphere and precise logistics are decisive, but it is the fine details – customised melodies, movement solutions, the fusion of technology and culinary art, unconventional communication – that become a recognisable signature. As vivid examples, she cites the Untamed Accommodations series, Theatre by Phone and the HUGO BOSS loyalty program Event in a Box.
In the field of technology, the agency uses virtual reality and virtual augmented reality technologies, artificial intelligence for real-time data analysis, motion sensors for musical performances, mobile scenography and sustainable materials. The goal of each event is not only an intense experience, but also a measurable return on PR activities, attracting sponsorship and responsible use of resources. Currently, the Christmas Residence project is being developed in particular, which, with a unified, adaptable concept, helps companies save resources while maintaining high quality.
Over the past five years, the agency has received more than 70 awards, including the bronze award of the Grand Prix World BEA World festival, as well as the gold award of the Cannes Festival Heavent Awards. It has also received Platinum, Silver and Gold awards from the most powerful competitions in its industry EVENTEX Awards, Amber Awards, Revolution Awards, Symbol Creative Awards, The Convrt Award. It is also worth mentioning the awards received on a local scale – Export and Innovation Award, ADWARDS and Latvian Event Forum Excellence Award, which confirm the professionalism and level of creativity of the agency Skudras Metropole.
Thanks to companies such as Luka and Metropole, we can hear more and more about the potential of Latvian business tourism outside the borders of Latvia. This is a story about people – bright personalities who create experiences with their personal example, heart and mind, about an environment that inspires, and a country that becomes an idea generator for world-class challenges.
