Olga Gončarova will head the tourism promotion agency "Lithuania travel"
Olga Gončarova, who has been temporarily in charge of the agency until now, has won the competition for the position of Director of the public agency "Lithuania travel ", which was announced by Ministry of the Economy and Innovation, beating out 19 other candidates.
"I am delighted that we managed to attract a large number of strong and interesting candidates. The jury judged that the strongest performer was an experienced tourism marketer who has worked for the institution for many years and has successfully built up her competences here. During her long career, O. Gončarova has accumulated a wealth of knowledge and skills required for this position, and her vision for the development of tourism in Lithuania was therefore the most successful," said Vincas Jurgutis, Deputy Minister of the Economy and Innovation.
"I believe that the consistent and sincere work of the Lithuania travel team will continue to promote both inbound and domestic tourism. We will strive to increase the flow of inbound tourism and help local tourism enthusiasts to discover the uniqueness and beauty of Lithuania. Dialogue and close cooperation are essential to strengthen the tourism ecosystem and the competences of its actors, and we will be open to continuing our work with tourism ecosystem actors not only on marketing, but also on digitisation and open data. I thank you for your trust and the opportunity to contribute to change, and I believe that the problems and solutions identified together with our strategic partners will stimulate the growth of the tourism sector", says O. Gončarova.
O. Gončarova holds a Master's degree in Management and Business Administration from Vilnius Gediminas Technical University and has more than 16 years of experience in the tourism sector. She started her career in 2006 at the then State Department of Tourism under the Ministry of Economy, where she worked as a senior specialist. Later, she held the position of Head of Department, and in recent years - Head of the Tourism Markets Division and temporary Director of the State Enterprise "Lithuania travel".
Lithuania travel, the national tourism promotion agency for Lithuania, is responsible for the marketing of the country's tourism both abroad and in Lithuania. In order to increase the competitiveness of the Lithuanian tourism market and to create added value for the national economy, the National Tourism Promotion Agency "Lithuania travele" cooperates closely with tourism businesses, organisations and associations.
According to the data of the Lithuanian Department of Statistics, 1.58 million tourists were accommodated in Lithuanian accommodation establishments in the first half of 2022, which is 2.5 times more than in the same period of 2021. The number of foreign tourists was 456,000, or 4 times more, while the number of domestic residents was 1.12 million, or 2.2 times more than last year.