Press releases

NESVIZH, 7 June (BelTA) – Plans have been made to declare a year of tourism in the Belarus-Russia Union State, Sergei Rybakov, Deputy Chairman of the Science, Education and Culture Committee of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of Russia, told reporters after the breakout session “Belarusian-Russian cultural and humanitarian cooperation in tourism: historical and modern context” held in Nesvizh as part of the Third Belarus-Russia Forum of Regions on 7 June, BelTA has learned.

Tourism was in the spotlight during the session, which was no surprise. The tourism industries of Belarus and Russia and growing. Still, the potential is far from being fully exploited. “We should hold a joint event, let us say, Year of Tourism. It may be named differently, but the essence will be the same. We have to work hard to promote our joint tourism product. We work under a common legal framework and receive almost the same tourist traffic. Therefore, we can join our efforts to draw as many foreign tourists to Belarus and Russia as possible, including by developing domestic tourism,” Sergei Rybakov pointed out.

The official believes that the main task for the near future is to address the lack of information about the opportunities for tourism in Belarus and Russia, because people abroad are little aware of them. “We have well-established routes and destinations such as Moscow, Saint Petersburg, the Golden Ring. However, our wonderful towns get lost against this background. In Belarus, the situation is essentially the same. There are many historical and cultural sites tourists do not know about. We think the efforts to promote our tourist attractions in neighboring countries and farther abroad have been insufficient so far. Moreover, there is no quality tourism infrastructure and services. The work on the development of bus tours should continue, and we should also start catering for individual travelers,” the Russian MP stressed.

The session also discussed proposals regarding the development of medical and health tourism, military and patriotic tourism and caravanning, and also the promotion of the existing tourism products and services in developed countries.