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Visitor numbers to Grodno District almost double since early 2018
GRODNO, 16 May (BelTA) – The number of visitors to Grodno District almost doubled since the start of 2018, head of the Grodno Oblast sport and tourism department Oleg Andreichik said during a ceremony to welcome the 20,000th visa-free visitor on 16 May, BelTA informs.
As many as 20,000 visa-free tourists from more than 40 countries paid a visit to Grodno and Grodno District since the start of the year.
“Over the same period last year the region was visited by about 11,000 visa-free travelers. Visitor numbers have increased almost two times. The majority of visa-free travelers are citizens of Lithuania (58%) and Poland (35%). Then go tourists from Latvia and Germany. A German family, Andrei and Irina Chub with their daughter Anna, became the 20,000th passengers to visit Grodno District visa-free,” Oleg Andreichik said.
“It is a beautiful and clean city, with beautiful architecture. This is great news that it is possible to visit it visa-free now. I was born in Kazakhstan and have been living in Germany for about 20 years. Such a trip is a wonderful opportunity to speak Russian, learn about the Belarusian culture,” said Andrei Chub. He added he would recommend Belarus to his friends.
Two-day tours are most popular in Grodno District. They envisage excursions, sightseeing and familiarization with the national cuisine. Medical tourism has been gaining momentum as well. Since the beginning of the year more than 270 visa-free tourists visited health resorts of Grodno District.
As it was reported, Decree No. 462 on the visa-free entry and departure of foreign nationals came into force on 1 January 2018. It has extended the duration of visa-free stay to ten days, expanded the territories for temporary stay of foreign visitors, and increased the number of border checkpoints for visa free entry. The visa-free zone near Grodno has been expanded to cover the entire Grodno District. Visa-free entry is available via road checkpoints and also checkpoints located at railway terminals and airports.
The flow of tourists arriving by train has markedly increased. Grodno is linked with Polish cities by the railway service.The seasonal border checkpoint Lesnaya-Rudawka situated on the Belarusian-Polish border in the Augustow Canal area opened on 28 April. It caters to pedestrian and cycling tourists, small vessels-yachts, boats, kayaks. Lesnaya-Rudavka also accommodates visa-free tourists.
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