MINSK, 21 December (BelTA) – Belarus is increasing its travel exports to Ukraine and Russia, Belarus' Deputy Sports and Tourism Minister Mikhail Portnoi said at the meeting held on 20 December to summarize the results of the competition Discover Belarus.
“The situation in the Russian tourism market in late 2014 had a serious impact on our inbound tourism, as this country accounts for more than 70% of our travel exports. Ukraine, our second biggest travel importer, also had difficult times. Measures were necessary to rectify the situation. As a result, in January-October 2016 travel exports were up 7% to Ukraine and 2% to Russia, compared to the first ten months of 2015,” Mikhail Portnoi noted.
Belarus also continued the diversification of export markets and efforts to simplify visa regulations. “We see that this work proceeds in the right direction and we have already achieved results. Tourist numbers from Turkey went up 1.5 times. The number of travelers from Israel doubled. The Augustow Canal was visited by nearly 2,000 people visa-free. The work is underway to facilitate visa regulations for a number of countries,” the deputy minister added.
The best travel agencies and facilities of the Belarusian travel industry in 2016 were named during the event on 20 December. Discover Belarus is a professional tourism competition held by the Belarusian Sports and Tourism Ministry and the National Tourism Agency. The competition aims to promote domestic and inbound tourism in Belarus and consolidate efforts of people engaged in the national travel industry.
