Sigulda is one of the loveliest cities in Latvia. Mostly associated with winter sports and walking holidays, the abundance of nature provides many opportunities for summer cycling and other activities based around the lake lands. Populated since the 11th century, the Livonian order had many strongholds here in the fifteen hundreds, from where they resisted Russian invasion. Sigulda is perhaps best-known as the place which generated Olga Lapshova, bobsleighing champion who shot to fame during the 1984 and 1988 Olympics. This sport is still a great source of national pride. In a corner of the Gauja National Park is a bobsleigh track of 1420 metres long and 121 metres high, the largest in Europe, where speeds of up to 120km/hour can be reached.
Capital investment has been directly encouraged by the city council since 2003, when the first investment schemes were tendered and a ten-year development scheme initiated. Since then the city has been undergoing sustainable growth, without much sign of a burgeoning industrial development. Serious investors should look into the possibilities of contributing to the tourism infrastructure, with possibilities existing in terms of ski resorts, bobsleighing, cable cars or water activities.
