The Presidium of the Russian Government envisaged the tourism development program

Yesterday at the seating of the Presidium of the Russian Federation Government the officials envisaged the federal «Development of domestic and inbound tourism in 2011-2018” Program. It was presented by the Minister of Sport, Tourism and Youth Policy of Russia Mr. Vitaly Moutko. Somehow the information on the results of the seating or whether the program has been approved wasn’t available for the press. But the agencies were taking turns in quoting Vladimir Putin, who at the seating declared that the program’s implementation will be generously funded (96 billion roubles) from the state budget, besides that 25 billion will be allocated from the Russian regional budgets and another 211 billion form non-budget sources.

According to Vladimir Putin, the federal money will fund the most attractive investment projects that will be implemented within the areas with the richest tourist and recreational potential. As per the Prime Minister, the tourist infrastructure of the world-renowned cities with important cultural and historical monuments and natural sites develops extremely slow and the country’s potential in terms of this sector is being used for just 30%. The share of tourism in Russia’s GDP is only 6.5%, while an average rate in the world is 9.4%.

When the program is implemented the number of foreign tourists in Russia should grow by over 600% and reach 23 million people, and the number of Russians that spend their vacations on the country’s resorts should increase by 150% - from 29 to 45 million people. Within the next eight years the total revenue of the tourism sector should grow by 470% and reach 417 billion roubles.

The program is divided into three stages, the first one – 2011, second – 2012-2013 and third – 2014-2018. This year the program implies the preparation of an investment area for collective accommodation facilities construction including engineering and transport infrastructure along with the beaching works and the coastal tourist areas landscaping.