Opinions & Interviews

MINSK, 5 April (BelTA) – The Russian Federal Agency for Tourism (Rostourism) invites Belarus to cooperate in the development of military and patriotic routes, Rostourism Deputy Head Roman Skory said during a roundtable meeting that discussed tourism cooperation between Belarus and Russia on 5 April, BelTA has learned.

“Military and patriotic tourism is gaining popularity in Russia, and we hope to conduct joint projects with Belarus. We actively promote the idea of combining the Russian and Belarusian routes. We believe that such routes that will connect our countries are likely to be very popular with foreign tourists, especially with Chinese people who show a particular interest in this tourism sector,” Roman Skory said.

He believes that more efforts should be made to advertise military and patriotic tourism in the Belarus-Russia Union State. “Russians should visit places of military glory in Belarus more often. For their part, the Russian military and patriotic education sites are ready to welcome tourists from Belarus,” Roman Skory added.

Director of the National Tourism Agency of Belarus Veronika Dorozhko agrees that military and patriotic tourism can become a key area of cooperation between Belarus and Russia. Meanwhile, event, industrial, business, and agro-ecotourism are also gaining momentum. Veronika Dorozhko recalled that in 2014 Belarus played host to the IIHF World Championship, so now the country is ready to offer tourists a well-developed transport infrastructure.

A delegation of Russian tourism experts is currently in Belarus on a visit. It comprises representatives of travel agencies and media companies. On 6 April, they will visit a number of tourist destinations in Minsk and attend the international spring fair of tourism services Leisure 2016.