In Bashkiria go for the main events of the year

At the end of last year, the tourist flow reached 2.4 million people, showing an increase of 8.2 percent. In the Volga Federal District, Bashkiria occupies a confident third place, and in the all-Russian rating, the republic rose by three positions, fixing itself on the thirteenth line. The index of tourist attractiveness also shows positive dynamics: ninth place in Russia and third in the Volga Federal District. Only in the first half of 2026, more than 590 thousand people stayed in hotels, glampings and sanatoriums of the region - 3.4 percent more than a year earlier.

However, the real breakthrough was the development of event tourism. This promotion tool allowed the region to take fourth place in the country in terms of potential according to the rating of the Exhibition Research Center (VRC) and receive the title of “Event Tourism Region” at the XIV International Russian Event Awards. Today, the map of the republic is literally littered with events: municipalities announced more than 1,200 events of various orientations: from sports marathons to gastronomic festivals and business forums.

Particular attention is paid to the hinterland. Methodical recommendations for organizing events directly in rural settlements have been developed, which allows revealing the local color. The list of the most promising projects includes the holiday of Ivan Kupala in the Iglinsky district, the gas festival “Agidel roasts” in Agidel, “Balish-fest” in Buzdaksky district, “Kukushkin tea” in Nurimanovsky, festivals “Canatla At” in Dyurtyulinsky, “Resurrection dance” in Meleuzovsky, “Cossack saved” in Kumertau, “Patters of my people in towels” in Kuyurgazinsky and “Bishbuk” districts. Each of these events is unique and reflects the soul of a particular territory.

Today, we are actively working on the formation of a calendar of brand events for 2027. The electronic format has already been implemented in 28 cities and districts, and the process has been launched in four more.

From June 12 to 14, the capital hosted the EstiFest gastro festival, which gathered over 153 thousand fans of national cuisine. In July, the villages of Voskresenskoye and Verkhotor became the platform for the first festival of the mining civilization “Cooper”, where more than 25 thousand guests came to get acquainted with the history of the Ural metallurgy. Kashkadan Park hosted the V International Festival of Health and Tourism “On Rakhat” (14 thousand participants), and the historical park of Birsk hosted the reconstruction of “Birskaya Antiquity” (12 thousand spectators).

An important element of creating a comfortable environment is the introduction of the tourist code of city centers. In Ufa, Birsk, Sterlitamak and Beloretsk, not only aesthetic elements like illumination and art objects appear, but also functional tools: fairgrounds, mobile stages, modern tourist and information centers. This year, the winner of the competition of federal support was Blagoveshchensk with the project “Blagoveshchensk – the memory of the place”.

Svetlana Vereshchagina stressed that the basis of a successful Turkod is a system of meanings - key stories and images of the territory. So, the goose helped Sterlitamak to strengthen his image through the Goose 2.0 festival and the city quest with figurines-symbols, and the pigeon became a driver for the Blagovest festival in Blagoveshchensk.

- Indeed, event tourism is a very serious tool for promoting Bashkortostan, our cities and districts. In addition, this is a large part of the economy, an opportunity for artisans and manufacturers to sell goods, said the head of the Republic of Belarus Radiy Khabirov.

Over the past six years, the Merchant Hospitality Festival, which took place in Sterlitamak from 4 to 6 September, has grown into a federal event. It became a bright finale of the summer season and proof that Bashkortostan has learned to turn every event into a growth point for its economy and a business card for the whole world.