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Belarus ready to join cross-border routes with Europe, Russia to attract Chinese tourists

MINSK, 22 December (BelTA) - Belarus is ready to join the cross-border routes with Europe and Russia to attract Chinese tourists, Belarus First Deputy Sport and Tourism Minister Vyacheslav Durnov said at the Belarusian-Chinese regional conference on cooperation in tourism, which marks the closing of the Belarus Year of Tourism in China, BelTA has learned.

“Belarus is ready to become part of the coordinated routes linking Russia and European countries. We believe that opening new direct flights between Belarus and Chinese cities, not only with the Chinese capital, seems promising,” Vyacheslav Durnov said.

For example, there is already an 11-day tourist route for Chinese tourists spanning five countries: Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Ukraine and Belarus. In Minsk most popular with Chinese visitors are city tours, visits to the Museum of the Great Patriotic War, the Opera and Ballet Theater, the circus and an aqua park. On the whole, Belarus is ready to offer a wide variety of tours, including for lovers of eco-tourism, rural tourism, hunting and fishing. There is also a possibility to organize special tours for training young Chinese players on the Belarusian ice arenas.

According to Vyacheslav Durnov, almost 19,000 Chinese citizens visited Belarus in January-October 2018, up 12% year-on-year. “However, the tourist potential of Belarus is still hugely untapped for Chinese tourists,” the first deputy minister said. The Sport and Tourism Ministry expects that the number of visitors from China to Belarus will continue increasing every year, especially taking into account the introduction of visa-free travel between the two countries.

Recently Belarus has been actively developing tourist infrastructure for Chinese tourists. Measures includes the development of specialized tours, tourist navigation in Chinese, and training of interpreters. Audio guides in Chinese are available in the country’s biggest museums. “This is just the beginning. This work will be continued,” Vyacheslav Durnov said.

On 22 December Minsk will play host to a ceremony to sign an agreement on setting up the Culture and Tourism Popularization Center of Chongqing in Minsk, a memorandum of cooperation in tourism between Vitebsk Oblast and Shandong Province, and an agreement on strategic partnership between Belarus’ Tsentrkurort and the Chinese company Tongcheng.

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