Opinions & Interviews

MINSK, 21 June (BelTA) – Plans are in the works to extend the visa-free stay in Belarus for those who arrive via Minsk National Airport, Vitaly Gritsevich, deputy director of the tourism department – head of tourism planning at the Sport and Tourism Ministry of Belarus, told reporters.

“Work on the extension of the visa-free stay for tourists entering Belarus through Minsk National Airport is in progress. I think the results of this work will be in by the end of the year,” Vitaly Gritsevich said.

“It makes sense to increase this period to 15 days to promote medical tourism in our country,” he said.

Since the launch of this visa-free entry program via Minsk National Airport, Belarus has welcomed about 120,000 tourists. Most often these are visitors from Germany, Poland, Italy, the United Kingdom and the United States. “The passenger traffic has increased by about 22%,” Vitaly Gritsevich added.

BelTA reported earlier that Belarus introduced a visa-free travel program for citizens of 80 countries in February 2017. On 1 January 2018 the visa-free travel period in certain parts of Brest Oblast and Grodno Oblast was extended up to ten days.