RIGA, April 30 (LETA) - There are no plans to raise the entry fee in Jurmala again this year, Edgars Stobovs, the executive director of the municipality, informed at the council meeting on Thursday.

In approving the municipality's 2025 annual report, opposition MP Uldis Kronblums (Progressives) referred to the document's statement that last year a decision was taken to raise the fee to EUR 5, justified by the need to balance budget revenues with costs. He asked whether there were no plans to raise the fee this year.

In reply to the councilor's question, Stobovs said that the financial situation of the municipality was stable at the moment, so no increase was foreseen.

As reported, Jurmala municipality has collected EUR 1,128,235 for issuing entry passes in the first two months of the year, when the new price of the pass came into force.

In January and February 2025, when the price of the pass was EUR 3, the municipality collected EUR 946,052 from issuing entry passes into Jurmala.

At the same time, the municipality pointed out that in January and February 2026, the number of customers who were granted passes with discounts accounted for 23 percent of the total.

It was also reported that this year the entry fee to Jurmala has increased from EUR 3 to EUR 5.

The price of long-term passes has been roughly doubled - from EUR 10 to EUR 20 for a weekly pass, from EUR 31 to EUR 60 for a monthly pass, from EUR 55 to EUR 100 for a three-month pass.

A six-month pass costs EUR 180 instead of EUR 107, while a one-year pass costs EUR 270 instead of EUR 180.

The loca council has cited the reduction of traffic congestion as the main argument for the price increase. The changes were opposed by the opposition, including the possibility that the price increase would have a negative impact on tourist inflow, which in turn would have a negative impact on local businesses.

LETA was informed by the municipality that the traffic volume in Jurmala has remained at a constant high level over the last three years: in 2024, 4.4 million arrivals were registered in Jurmala, in 2022 - 4.3 million, and in 2023 - 4.5 million.

The entry fee into Jurmala has been in force since 1996. The funds collected from the fee are used for the development of tourism and resort infrastructure, e.g. for the improvement and maintenance of walking areas, recreation areas, beach maintenance.