MINSK, 9 April (BelTA) – The National Library welcomes about 400,000 tourists every year. Director General of the National Library of Belarus Vadim Gigin made the statement at the plenary session “Strategy for the implementation of the state program Tourism for 2026-2030” held as part of the international exhibition and fair of tourism services Leisure 2026, BelTA has learned.
According to Vadim Gigin, the interest of tourists in Belarus and the National Library continues to increase. “Judging by the observation deck, we can talk about a rise in interest in our country, including from foreign tourists. As a rule, the number of tourists decreases in November, but during the Russian November holidays we had an absolute record high of observation deck visits – 4,500 people although the average daily attendance is 1,500-2,000,” he noted. “We are most often visited by guests from Russia, China, the post-Soviet space, and the Middle East. The National Library hosts about 400,000 tourists annually.”
The number of young people in tour groups that visit the library has been rising for many years. “Thematic tour groups come from Russia. Those are school students whose historical and patriotic tours include Belarus and a visit to our facility,” said the director.
At present about 30 tours are offered in Russian, Belarusian, English, and German. The most popular ones are a visit to the Book Museum and the observation deck. The library has also hosted an exhibition “Books gifted to the president”, which had traveled across Belarus and has been of great interest to foreign guests.
According to Vadim Gigin, new tours are also being developed at the library. “For example, a night tour of the library when it is closed is in development. Apart from that, a tour related to the engineering and communications section is planned. People are interested in how the internal mechanics work,” he said. “We also plan to organize quests taking into account peculiarities of the library’s space. There is a great future in this.”
The main mission of the National Library is culture and enlightenment. “We call the entire range of services we provide a library of impressions. A person entering our building should leave in a good mood, having used the opportunities that the diamond of knowledge provides,” concluded the director.
The 28th international exhibition and fair of tourism services Leisure 2026 opened in Minsk on 9 April. This year the forum is being hosted for the first time by the Minsk international exhibition center BelExpo. International and regional organizations are represented as well as tour operators, tourism management bodies, hotel and sanatorium complexes, museums, national parks, insurance companies, business venues and cultural ones.
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