Visa-free effect
For firms operating in the market of inbound tourism, may - " hot " season. This year, as never before, we were lucky with the weather. "There are more guests, - says Tamara Fedortsova, Deputy Chairman of the Association, candidate of geographical Sciences. - And we note the growth of tourist flow from neighboring Russia and from other countries, such as Bulgaria and the Middle East. Especially a lot of tourists have been 1 may. The most famous sights of the capital on this day were dozens of tour buses".
In the city of guests first of all interested places connected with history of the great Patriotic war. So, according to the Deputy Director of the Belarusian state Museum of the history of the second world war Anna Galinskaya, over 8 thousand people got acquainted with the exposition of the Museum on may holidays, the most visitors were 1, 2 and 9 may. They are mainly tourists from Russia, Poland, China, France, Germany, Ukraine, Latvia, Spain, Kazakhstan, Moldova, great Britain. During the holidays, the staff conducted 50 excursions, audio guides were in demand - they were offered in Russian, Belarusian, English, German, Spanish and Chinese. This service was used by more than 170 people.
In addition to exploring the capital, the most popular were such directions as Khatyn, Kurgan Slavy, Mir, Nesvizh, Brest and Belovezhskaya Pushcha. "Hit "this season were excursions to the giant plant"BelAZ". Perhaps, if the demand remains high, in the future tour operators will offer them on a permanent basis as part of national teams.
The number of applications for English-language excursions has also increased. Since last year, foreigners have had the opportunity to visit the World, Nesvizh, to make a sightseeing tour of Minsk as part of national teams accompanied in English. "Such proposals are aimed at guests who took advantage of the visa-free regime. Demand for them is constant, although the occupancy compared to the Russian - speaking, where there are 40-50 people, a small - 5-10 tourists," - said Tamara Fedortsova.
In total, currently, the capital's tour operators offer more than 50 excursion programs around the city and the surrounding area.
Point of growth
According to tour guides, significantly increase tourist flows, especially from neighboring States, would allow the spread of visa-free regime on travel by bus and rail. "Not everyone can afford to buy a plane ticket. Budget tourists choose other means of travel. For example, when during the ice hockey world championship of 2014 was opened the land border for the neighborhood, we also visited the Latvians, the Lithuanians, the poles," said Tamara Fedortsova.
One of the limiting factors for tourism development is that there is too little information about recreation opportunities in Belarus and Minsk abroad. Larisa Karagodova, Deputy of the Association of tour guides and guide-interpreters, head of the course of guide-interpreters, considers it necessary to represent the tourism potential of the Republic more at international venues.
"I work with Germans and French. When the world hockey championship was held in Minsk, the whole Europe knew about it. We came to a large number of guests, a 2-fold increase in the representation of groups. It is not enough just to open the borders, you need advertising. Also, an effective step would be to increase the visa-free regime with the offer of combined routes in several countries. Now for five days, the tourist must enter through the national airport and leave as well. But Belarus is often an integral part of the excursion program, it is combined with a visit to the Baltic States, Russia and Poland. Last year, groups from Canada began to come to us actively, but they need a Belarusian visa to visit neighboring countries by bus. This nuance reduces the flow of those wishing to visit Belarus."
As for the tourism infrastructure, according to members of the Association of guides and guides-interpreters, first of all, the issue of the organization of convenient Parking for tourist buses. May excitement showed the need to increase the number of such sites in Minsk, especially in the area of Independence square, city Hall, Park Y. Kupala. It is equally important to open in the tourist areas catering facilities with a national flavor, souvenir shops.
In General, revenues from tourist services to the budget of Minsk increased by 35% with the introduction of visa-free regime by Belarus. 98.7 thousand tourists visited the capital in 2017 as a part of organized groups - 10 thousand more than in 2016. The positive trend has continued in the current season. Traditionally, the main flow is formed by Russians, however, increased interest in the Belarusian capital on the part of citizens of Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, China, Estonia, Germany, Israel, great Britain, Iraq, Spain and Ukraine. On average, the tours were five days.
Representatives of the sphere expect that the upcoming II European games, as well as the world hockey championship, which will be held in Minsk and Riga in 2021, the announcement of 2018 as the year of tourism of Belarus in China will be an impetus for the development of the tourism industry.
Nadezhda MATVEEVA,
BelTA
Read full text at: http://www.belta.by/comments/view/majskij-azhiotazh-ili-ekskursovody-o-poslednih-tendentsijah-na-rynke-turuslug-6239/