Growth of tourist traffic and new routes: Russia and Belarus discussed the expansion of air communication at the RUSSIA EXPO

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The number of trips to Russia by Belarusian tourists in 2023 doubled compared to the same period in 2022. The Republic of Belarus is also popular among Russian tourists, the country is among the top 10 foreign destinations.

To further increase the number of tourist trips, it is necessary to expand transport accessibility and develop new cross-border routes, said Deputy Minister of Economic Development of Russia Dmitry Vakhrukov at a meeting of the Working Group on Tourism.

"The tourism potential of Russia and Belarus is huge and unique, and the friendly relations between our peoples have strong historical and cultural ties. This and many other things ensure a stable interest in mutual tourist trips," said Deputy Minister of Economic Development of Russia Dmitry Vakhrukov.

He noted that the volume of tourist traffic in 2023 has surpassed not only last year, but also the pre-pandemic period. By now, the mutual tourist flow between Russia and Belarus is recovering at a rapid pace. According to the Statistical Committee of the Republic of Belarus, from January to June 2023 alone, there were 419 thousand tourist trips from Russia, which is almost equal to the volume for the whole year 2022. This is facilitated, among other things, by the absence of language barriers and the possibility to make cashless payment with the MIR card.

According to the results of 2023, the Union Program on unification of legislation in the field of tourism activities was successfully implemented. In particular, the standards of activities of tour guides and guides-interpreters, standards for the provision of hotel services, requirements for the financial responsibility of tour operators and guarantees to tourists in the rendering of services were harmonized. These steps should become the basis for further work on the formation of joint tour products to attract both foreign and domestic tourists.

Dmitry Vakhrukov noted that Russia considers it important to coordinate all innovations in the national legislation on tourism with the Belarusian side in the future.

One of the key topics of the meeting was transport accessibility - expansion of the geography of flights. The Ministry of Economic Development collected proposals from Russian regions. 36 subjects expressed interest in establishing direct air communication with Belarus or expanding the existing one, 13 - reported on the expediency of expanding automobile (bus) and railroad communication.

"Last year more than 144 thousand citizens of Belarus visited Moscow - it is more than twice as much as in 2022. The growth of tourist flow is achieved due to the developed infrastructure of the city, rich event agenda of the capital. It is also worth noting the logistical accessibility of the Russian capital for the residents of Belarus. There are more than 90 direct flights between Minsk and Moscow per week. Furthermore, there was a launch of direct flights between Brest and Moscow, they will be operated twice a week," said the chairman of the Tourism Committee of Moscow, Evgeny Kozlov.

The participants of the working group also noted the importance of creating cross-border tourist routes, which stimulate the growth not only of the tourism industry, but also of the entire related service sector.