In the eyes of Russians, Belarus is first and foremost considered a country with a highly developed resort complex. At least the organized tourism sector is focusing on that. This fact was recently confirmed by Deputy Minister of Sports and Tourism of the Republic Oleg Andreichik. And he gave some facts. Firstly, last year 4.8 million foreigners entered the republic, more than 90% of whom are Russian citizens.
Secondly, Belarusian sanatoriums are well filled all year round thanks to their eastern neighbors. These days, about six thousand guests with foreign passports rest at local spas, and almost all of them come from Russia.
But here is another trend: every year, the number of “individuals” increases. In addition, individual tourism takes precedence over group tourism. Therefore, there is a need to improve the recreation infrastructure. How?
- In tourism, the law of polarity is important – when a person arrives and sees what he does not have, – explains the chairman of the board of the Republican Union of the Tourism Industry (RTI ) Philip Guly. – If for everyone who lives in the Central or North-Western Federal District, Belarus is valuable for its history and culture due to common ancestors, then residents of other regions of the Russian Federation are more interested by its originality and, if you wish, by “Europeanness”: Catholic churches, castles, chivalric epic And so on. All guests, without exception, have a common interest – national cuisine and drinks.
The three-year active work of the tourism industry to increase the flow of tourists is bringing concrete results. This year alone, 211 new tourist routes have appeared in Belarus. There are many combined among them – along swamps, ecological paths, quarries. 25 new tourist facilities were built, 75 others were rebuilt and renovated. This year, it is planned to upgrade nearly 60 additional tourist facilities.
As for the tourist product itself, the novelties of 2023 were presented on the eve of the May holidays in Minsk at the Discover Belarus forum. The country’s six regions focused on local brands and attractions. For example, Minskaya – on the unique belts of Slutsk and a manuscript monument of the 16th century – the Slutsk Gospel. The Brest region presented the only museum of astronautics in the republic, the Gomel region bets on military-patriotic tourism, the Vitebsk region invites to the “Slavianski Bazaar” festival.
Russian tourists already today have the opportunity to appreciate the uniqueness of the Belarusian hinterland – the Internet and the information support of local executive committees to help them. As for organized tourist groups, Russian tour operators will most likely present new offers for excursions very soon. An important step in this direction was taken in April, when the first Russian-Belarusian tourist congress was held in Minsk with the participation of representatives of the state administration of industry, heads and managers of tour operators and federal and regional companies, online reservation services…
- Mutual tourist flows between Belarus and Russia will only increase due to external circumstances, – Philip Guly is convinced of this. – The task of Belarus is to collect this flow as much as possible, to resist its pressure, while maintaining the quality of services, and then to ensure the depth of sales, the structure of the tourist product, to enter into systemic interaction with Belarusian and Russian carriers to reduce the cost of tickets, and also attract investment to further develop the industry.
Folder “SOYUZ”
About two dozen types of tourism are developing in Belarus, but the undisputed leader is sanatorium and spa vacations.
Read the Latest Science and Technology News Today on The Eastern Herald.
