29/7 Tass 299
MOSCOW, July 29 (Itar-Tass) — Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said Russia will allocate almost 100 billion roubles until 2018 to develop domestic tourism.
“The period of operation of the federal goal-oriented program is set at eight years (2011-2018), and the amount of federal budget money allocated for implementing the program is 96 billion roubles,” Putin said at a meeting of the government presidium on Thursday.
“The funds are to be used for the most attractive investment projects, to be implemented in the territories with the largest tourism/recreation potential. As a result, we’re hoping that incoming tourist flow will increase by more than six times, from 3.6 million people to 23 million people by 2018. The number of citizens vacationing in Russia should increase by 1.5 times, from 29 million to 45 million, while the market of paid tourist services will grow 4.7 times, from 88 billion roubles to 417 billion roubles,” he said.
In his opinion, the country only uses 30 percent of its tourism potential, on the average. “In Russian towns, which have world famous cultural and historical monuments and nature sites, tourism is developing passively, unhurriedly,” he noted, “although Russia has resources for recreation practically in all its regions.”
The share of tourism in Russia’s GDP only amounts to 6.5 percent which is 3 percent less than the world’s average; while by competitiveness, Russian tourism ranks 59 of 139 countries, according to the prime minister.
He said the money would be used for investing in the modern complexes of service lines and transport infrastructure, and creating conditions for private business in tourism, by reducing its expenses in the projects to build hotels and provide services.