Belarus, Russia improving terms of operation for tourism industry

Alesya Abramenko noted that the Union State program for the unification of tourism laws provided for the harmonization of tourism promotion strategies. “This work helped restore the pre-pandemic levels of package tours last year. The number of tourists from Russia to Belarus increased by 1.6 times over 2022, from Belarus to Russia by 1.4 times. The industry started making a contribution to the country's economic growth: it accounted for 0.1% of GDP growth in 2022 and 0.2% last year,” said the deputy minister.

Alesya Abramenko opined on what should be done to increase domestic  and inbound tourism in the Union State. “As part of the Union State program for 2024-2026, we plan to jointly promote tourist routes. The tourism roadmap for 2023-2024 also features a series of specific activities. They include the development and implementation of a joint marketing strategy, closer cooperation between the regions, and package tours that would include sporting events,” the deputy minister said.

“Meanwhile, we are creating favorable conditions to encourage investments in tourist infrastructure projects in Belarus. The economy ministers of the two countries have recently signed a document to stimulate such investments. We believe that incentives and preferences can help attract Russian capital into this industry within the framework of the updated law “On investments,” she said.

The Russia-Belarus Tourism Congress will be running until 20 April. It is co-arranged by the Russian Union of Travel Industry and the Belarusian Union of the Tourism Industry. The business program includes a lot of networking events. There will be professional sections, training sessions, as well as B2B events for Russian and Belarusian companies. The congress is co-located with the international tourism exhibition-fair Leisure 2024.