Press releases

12 Feb 2018

Minsk to expand Guest Card program

MINSK, 12 February (BelTA) – The Minsk Guest Card program will be expanded, director of the Minsk-based consulting and advertising company Mingorspravka Boris Vasiliyev said at a meeting in the Minsk City Hall on 12 February, BelTA has learned.

In the first quarter Mingorspravka will issue these cards without the option “digital pass for travel on urban transport” and will put them up for sale in retail chains, shops, Belsoyuzpechat newsstands. Now they are on sale in the company’s information kiosks that have a terminal to top up the card for travel on public transport. “We are also exploring the option of combining the Guest Card with students’ electronic cards, designing the season card for families to visit cultural institutions,” Boris Vasiliyev

There are also plans to expand the list of museums providing free admission or discounts. It is expected that the list will comprise the suburban farms providing agro-tourism services, more services industry partners (restaurants, department stores, retail chains, bicycle rental shops, filling stations, hotels). Thematic cards are also in the pipeline.

The Guest Card went on sale on 17 January. Pre-registration at http://www.minskpass.by/ was opened in late December last year. All in all, over 30 cards have been purchased, 38 pre-ordered by visitors from Norway, Italy, Czechia, China France, and Russia. “Most often the card holders visit the Museum of the Great Patriotic War, the National Art Museum, the History Museum, the Museum of Miniatures, the observation deck of the National Library, Dukorski Maentak Estate and Park,” said Boris Vasilyev.

The cards are available in three varieties, which are valid for 24, 48, and 72 hours. Contributing to the program are 37 museums, of which 14 are located outside Minsk (the Belarusian State Museum of Folk Architecture and Rural Lifestyle, th Michal Oginski Museum, the Zabrodye Ethnographic Museum, the castles in Mir and Nesvizh, etc.) and also 16 hotels, 6 catering facilities, 8 retail networks.

With a view to advancing the project the company has been closely cooperating with the Minsk City Hall, the Minsk information center, Minskaya Spadchyna, and the National Union of Tourism Industry. Partner relations have been established with the St Petersburg Guest Card program, Kiev tourist information center, Lublin City Office. The company also cooperates with the Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to provide all the websites of the embassies with the relevant information.

Cards can be bought from the Mingorspravka information points at the railway station, in the Upper Town, the Minsk information center (13 Revolutsionaya Street), and also online. The card can be activated within 12 months after the purchase. The card can be activated by scanning the QR code or by manually entering the card’s information during the first visit of a museum or during a sightseeing tour. The card is invalid if the date the card holder started using it is not specified on the other side, which the holder must fill in. The card offers free or discounted tours the tourism promotion program covers in addition to discounts from the program’s partners as specified by the guide book and the website.

The card can be ordered at www.minskpass.by and purchased online using a banking card.

The Guest Card costs Br45 for 24 hours, Br60 for 48 hours and Br78 for 72 hours.