Economic, Social, and Cultural Contexts for Market and Product Diversification of the Lithuanian Tourism Sector

Abstract

Lithuania has shown a 7% or greater increase in gross domestic product since joining the European Union, an increasing employment rate, and in part because of the greater incorporation of older people, especially females, a numerical increase in the employed; yet its population is declining because of both a low birth rate and migration. Both domestic and inbound tourism are rising. Yet because of the greater population in the Vilnius–Kaunas corridor, and because many people have left other counties to work there, tourist income in less developed parts of the country would help correct income disparities and foster sustainable regional development. While tourism attracts limited foreign direct investment, tourist infrastructure (boutique hotels, upgraded houses in the countryside, local restaurants, culture and language tourism) would be a good investment for smaller investors if strategically placed alongside a designated publicity campaign, in tandem with other eastern Baltic states or sponsored by EC delegations outside the EU, to attract small investors (including Lithuanians resident abroad) to the less developed regions of the country.