Belarus and Russia identify areas of further cooperation on development of common tourist space

Belarus and Russia have identified areas for further cooperation in the development of joint tourism space. This was reported by sb.by in the press service of the National Tourism Agency following the meeting of the Belarusian-Russian working group on tourism, which was held in the special economic zone of tourist and recreational type "Zavidovo" in the Tver region.

The Belarusian delegation included representatives of state bodies and organizations of the tourism sector. The participants got acquainted with the infrastructure of the tourist territory “Zavidovo”, approaches to its master planning, financing and management, as well as with the practice of interaction between the state and business.

The practical exchange of experience was an important part of the first meeting of the new working group. The participants discussed the creation of tourism products of the Union State for tourists from China and other priority markets, as well as the development and promotion of regional business projects and common tourist routes.

Special attention was paid to improving tourism infrastructure and quality of services. The parties exchanged experience in the field of classification and certification of accommodation facilities, discussed approaches to certification of beaches and standardization of ecological trails, as well as the development of Halal and Muslim Friendly directions.

An important topic was the implementation of the agreement between the governments of Belarus and the Russian Federation on the mutual recognition of visas.

- The need for further improvement of mechanisms contributing to the simplification of tourist trips and the development of joint routes for foreign citizens was noted, the National Tourism Agency noted.

At the meeting, approaches to monitoring and measuring mutual tourist flow were also discussed. The Belarusian side presented the statistical accounting tools used and outlined the prospects for joint work on the use of modern digital data sources for a more accurate assessment of tourist movements. The parties expressed interest in further increasing the number of joint tour routes, the formation of the Union Event Calendar, which will systematically promote the tourist opportunities of the two countries.

Following the meeting, a number of documents were signed aimed at developing and strengthening cooperation between Belarus and Russia in the field of tourism.

The next meeting of the working group on tourism within the Union State is planned to be held in 2027 in Belarus. The Ministries of Economy of Belarus and Russia record a significant change in the quality of trade between the countries