Experts of the Ministry of North Caucasus have made a "road map" for tourists planning to visit Caucasus Mineral Waters in this year with all the necessary information.
"The North Caucasus resorts have great potential to attract tourists from different parts of our country and abroad. Together with the governments of Stavropol Krai, Karachaevo-Cherkessia and Kabardino-Balkaria Republic, we worked out a plan of actions in detail, which will unleash the potential of not only Caucasian Mineral Waters, but the North Caucasus as a whole," the Deputy Minister Andrei Reznikov stressed.
The document contains information about socio-political, cultural, sports and other public events of different levels.
'The road Map' also includes measures for presentation of tourist potential of Caucasian Mineral Waters in the Russian and international tourism fairs, in particular such as 'Inturmarket-2016', 'Otdykh / Leisure', INWETEX CIS TRAVEL MARKET, as well as for holding information tours for representatives of the tourist industry in Russia and abroad.
The project of a special 'road map' was created by the working group of the Ministry of North Caucasus on the monitoring of implementation of measures to popularize the Caucasus Mineral Waters plan as a year-round resort for Russian and foreign citizens.
The final text of the annual plan for the promotion of Caucasus Mineral Waters as a year-round resort for Russian and foreign citizens will be posted on the official website of the Ministry of North Caucasus, North Caucasian Federal District Federal Tourism Agency and government entities, the press service of the Ministry of North Caucasus said.
The head of the Faculty of Entrepreneurship in Hospitality and Tourism of RANEPA, Irina Goncharova, in an interview with a correspondent of Vestnik Kavkaza expressed the opinion that in the current year the resorts of the North Caucasus will be able to maintain and even increase the flow of tourists due to the closure of the Turkish direction. The North Caucasian resorts will be able to tell about their advantages at the 11th International Tourism Exhibition 'Intourmarket', which will be held in Moscow on March 19-22.
The expert warned that, in her opinion, Russians now, as before, are more focused on outbound tourism rather than domestic. "This year Bulgaria offers very good summer tours, interesting proposals are coming from Greece and Cyprus. So in the summer these countries may take quite a significant share of the tourist traffic," Irina Goncharova noted.
The vice-president of the Federation of Restaurateurs and Hoteliers, Alliance Hotel Management CEO Vadim Prasov, is also optimistic about the North Caucasus resorts' chances in the new summer season. "Caucasian Mineral Waters have the potential to save and even increase the tourist flow: the climate, recreation and sanatorium traditions. Traditionally, this resort enjoys quite high demand among Russians. And recent events, I think, will only strengthen the wish of Russian residents to periodically come here," he said.
The expert noted that the resorts of the North Caucasus won't have to compete with other Russian resorts, since they already have their place. "There is a difference between, for example, the sea resorts of Krasnodar Territory, which offer a beach holiday, have their own consumers, but the resorts of Caucasian Mineral Waters have their own – recreation and treatment. Krasnodar Territory's resorts are focused on beach vacations. If we talk about Sochi then it's skiing," the vice-president of the Federation of Restaurateurs and Hoteliers pointed out.
At the same time, in his opinion it does not make sense to talk about competition between outbound and domestic tourism. "Outbound tourism certainly exists to some extent, and it will exist in the future. It's normal that Russians periodically travel abroad," the expert concluded.