TALLINN, Mar 24 (LETA--BNS) - The twice failed public procurement for finding an operator for the Montu-Ventspils ferry route between Estonia and Latvia will not be repeated any time soon by the Saaremaa rural municipality, the regional Saarte Haal reports.

The funds earmarked for marketing the launch of the route will instead be used for promoting the island of Saaremaa in Latvia and Lithuania.

"No new procurement will be held as part of the 2021 season," deputy mayor of the Saaremaa rural municipality Kristiina Maripuu said.

The funds earmarked for marketing the launch of the new ferry route amounted to 40,000 euros together with own financing. The rural municipality has discussed with the State Shared Services Center, the agency that allocated the funds, an option to use the funds for an alternative project promoting the area in Latvia and Lithuania as summer 2020 showed that Latvian and Lithuanian tourists are continuously interested in visiting Saaremaa.

It was the share of Lithuanian tourists visiting Saaremaa in particular that grew last summer, according to Visit Saaremaa, the rural municipality’s department responsible for managing and marketing Saaremaa as a tourist destination.