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26 November 2018, 16:26

Grodno welcomes this year's 80,000th visa-free tourist

GRODNO, 26 November (BelTA) – Grodno celebrated the 80,000th foreign visa-free tourist of 2018 on 24 November, BelTA has learned.

Oleg Andreichik

Vilma Omileviciene, the head of a travel company from Kaunas, came to Grodno together with a group of Lithuanian tourists. The program of the two-day visit was to see the sights of the city and to go to the Grodno Oblast Drama Theater.

Vilma Omileviciene

“This is not my first time in Grodno or in the theater. We like the theater for its high level of performances. We love comedies here, they are very candid and sincere,” Vilma Omileviciene said. She stressed that the visa-free tours to Grodno are popular among Lithuanians, who show interest in everything that has to do with the shared history. Many older people come to Grodno to see how the famous city has changed since the Soviet times. Some Belarusian goods are also popular.

During the tours the guests are invited on factory tours to see how goods are manufactured. The 80,000th tourist was invited to OAO Molochny Mir dairy company. During the tour to the company, the head of the sport and tourism department of the Grodno oblast administration Oleg Andreichik gave the guest some gifts and a Grodno Oblast tourist passport.

“This is not surprising that the 80,000 visa-free tourist was a Lithuanian national. Lithuanians are our most frequent guests. The second most frequent visitors are from Poland. We also welcome guests from Latvia, Estonia, Germany, Italy, France, the Czech Republic, and the Netherlands. In total, citizens of 70 states visited the oblast visa free,” noted Oleg Andreichik. He stressed that the number of visa-free tourists constantly increases. In 2017, about 50,000 visa-free tourists visited Grodno and its outskirts.

“Since the start of the year, Grodno Oblast has welcomed almost 500,000 tourists: foreigners and residents of other regions of the country. Tourism is one of the most dynamically developing industries in the region, and the contribution from travel services to the regional economy is gradually increasing,” Oleg Andreichik said. The range of tourism types is expanding to include nostalgic, historical, educational, and medical travel. Industrial tourism has become very popular. Such services in the region are provided by about 30 enterprises which name it possible to explore the technology, visit museums, souvenir shops, and tasting rooms. Since the beginning of the year, over 45,000 tourists have done such excursions. The heads of companies also have an interest in organizing such visits. This is a good opportunity to earn additional income, and present their products.

On 1 January 2018, according to Decree No. 462 “On the establishment of visa-free rules for the entry and exit of foreign citizens”, the area near Grodno accessible to visa-free tourists was expanded to the entire Grodno District. Tourists can travel to Grodno District by car, rail or air transport.

Photos by Leonid Shcheglov

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