Tourist forum: achievements and prospects
The level of negotiations at the second international tourist forum ‘Visit Russia’ in Yaroslavl has once agai underlined the significance of the unique negotiation platform that was created in the Verkhnevolzhye. This time it became a discussion centre for more than a thousand world tourism industry leaders from 30 different countries.
One of the main achievements of the Visit Russia program was the coordination of the nearby regions in a mutual decision-making process that is aimed at improving the quality of the tourist services. The beginning of the cooperation is marked with a market opportunity: as known from the experience, tourists who travel across central Russia rarely limit themselves to visiting only one region. Therefore, with the initiative of the Yaroslavskaya oblast a first ever conference on tourism development in the central federal region took place. Its main outcome is the agreement on joining forces for a cooperation on promotion of the Russian brands.
The forum participants discussed the recent trends in the world tourist sector, graded the prospects of the joint government-private sector partnership in the development of recreational resources and also shared their regional Russian travel experiences with one another. As a result of the forum the regional government came to a conclusion that the governmental structure needs to create a tourism department - they consider that this would give that sector a new push towards development.
Yaroslavskaya oblast deputy governor Igor Yelfimov:
There is a prospect that another unique feature might define the Yaroslavsky forum - a discussion on the matters of the water tourism development. Sea tourism is already being discussed in St-Petersburg and Sochi, and as for the river or lake tourism - not a single discussion platform has yet taken on that subject. Meanwhile, we have the river Volga that it a brand in itself and is widely known abroad. However, it is not yet being used to its full potential due to the lack of necessary infrastructure.
Possibilities of the water and yacht tourism should not be underestimated, that is why the participants called upon the regional and federal government to soon develop a water transport infrastructure development program that would incorporate construction of the quay walls, gas stations and mini-hotels. Also, the Yaroslavskaya oblast offered the nearby regions to join forces in developing the water tourism. The real gem would possibly be the project called ‘Yaroslavskoye vzmorye’ - that was presented at the ‘Visit Russia’ event where it gained support of the private investors and the Federal tourism development target program. It shall be built within a 15-20 year period on the outskirts of the Rybinsky district in the places that were once thought of as depressive hinterland.
In the outcome of the ’Visit Russia’ event the participants agreed upon a resolution that will take into account the proposals and recommendations that were voiced during the plenary meeting, sessions and informal discussions of the Forum. It has been published on the forum’s website.