“It takes time to discover the best things,” a new tourism promotion campaign announces. The Lithuanian government will compensate hotels for accommodation costs of every third night spent by tourists. Seven hotels in Kaunas have already joined the campaign. According to the Ministry of Economy and Innovation, the campaign should encourage tourists to extend their stay in Lithuania, and it is no secret that currently, tourism sector truly requires assistance.
The Third Night principle is simple: if a tourist chooses an accommodation facility participating in the campaign and stays there for at least two nights, all or most of the costs of the third night will be covered by the state. A total of up to 65 euros will be compensated, which may include other services related to accommodation services, such as breakfast, on-site parking or a local fee for the use of the municipality’s tourism and leisure infrastructure. The guests are invited to choose Lithuania as their destination with the help of communication carried out abroad. Those who are interested and wish to spend the third night for free are urged to leave their email address to which they will receive a special code.
During the first week, the Hof Hotel, Moxy Kaunas Center, Kaunas, Hotel Metropolis, Ibis Kaunas Center, Kaunas City Hotel and Hotel Victoria joined the Third Night campaign in Kaunas. Across Lithuania, not only hotels, but also campsites, apartments, as well as other accommodation establishments join the program, as this initiative is dedicated to all of them.
The campaign was conceived in response to tourist flows that were severely affected by the pandemic. If Lithuanians travel abroad more and more often, then numbers of tourists visiting Lithuania are still relatively small. According to the Lithuanian Travel Business Association, comparing the first half of 2021 with 2019, there were ten times less foreign tourists. In addition, according to statistical data, the average foreign tourist arriving in Lithuania spends 2.4 nights here, which is much less than in the neighboring countries (for example, in Latvia this indicator reaches more than 4 nights).
“This is a great marketing campaign that can help the accommodation sector attract more tourists and prolong their stay. We hope that the measure will contribute to the generation of higher flows during the autumn season,” says Inga Pažereckaitė-Kalėdienė, Head of the Tourism Department of Kaunas IN, a public institution that closely cooperates with the tourism sector in Kaunas.
A total of 756.8 thousand euros has been allocated for the campaign conceived by VšĮ Keliauk Lietuvoje. This means that 11 thousand people can use the Third Night compensation. In this way, it is not only expected to prolong the average duration of trips in Lithuania, but also to increase the number of tourists and ensure the liquidity of accommodation providers. It is estimated that accommodation establishments that have received personal payments from tourists for two nights should generate an additional $ 2.4 million euros of income, excluding tourist expenses for catering, entertainment, etc.
The autumn season-oriented campaign runs from September 1 until November 18, and institutions wishing to participate can register at: https://stayin.lithuania.travel/
