Untitled

516 Russia
the `Golden Ring' are much in demand among
Russian and foreign tourists. The main advantages
of this region are the closeness to Moscow and St
Petersburg, well-developed transport communication
with other cities of the central region, and
unique architectural monuments which have
survived in remarkable condition.
Owing to its unique natural resources, the
Siberia and Far East region became quite famous
thanks to active promotion in the 1980s. The
region possesses excellent tourism potential for
ecotourism and adventure tourism, hunting
and fishing tours and safaris, as well as the Trans-
Siberian railway between Europe and Asia. The
Northern Caucasus and the Black Sea region has a
big tourism potential thanks to its famous balneological
resorts, national parks, Alpinism centres
and mountain skiing. For example, Sochi, one of
the world-famous sea resorts, is a traditional
place where people from Russia, the former Soviet
countries and the Baltic States spend their vacations.
Federal and local authorities provide all-round
support to the revival of domestic tourism former
volumes. This positive trend is reflected in the 1995
approval by the Russian government of the Federal
Programme of Tourism Development in Russia
and of similar local programmes enacted in a
number of Russian regions. This programme
envisages large-scale renovation of existing accommodation
properties and construction of
new hotels. Investments required to carry out the
projects included in the programme are estimated
approximately at one billion dollars �in 1995
prices). The programme provides for different
types of government incentives to attract private
investment. Special credits, tax rebates and subsidies
are expected to effectively stimulate potential
investors.
It should be noted that the tourism market in
Russia has in a short period of time overcome
many difficulties and adopted a more universal
form of development. Of major importance was
the formation of the legislative basis for the
development of national tourism industry. Rapidly
growing demand for foreign tourism has resulted in
setting up a huge number of companies. It is
estimated that now there are around ten thousand
tour operators and travel agencies, with
nearly seven thousand of them fully licensed. It is
known that the tourism trade is a magnet that
draws many incompetent and sometimes unscrupulous
people, and this is true not only of Russian
but of foreign tourism companies as well. Russia is
literally flooded with different tourism products,
many of which are far from being good quality as
regards programmes of stay and standards of
service offered. Some newcomers to Russian
tourism are obviously not interested in the overall
strategic planning of their activities within the
framework of the national industry.
The Russian government has been taking steps
to put the national tourism industry in order and
make this a respectable business. Stricter controls
have been introduced to make tourism companies
meet their obligations to clients and partners,
including withdrawal of licence as a last resort. A
new federal law, `On the Basic Principles of the
Tourism Activities', is expected to be passed shortly
by the Russian Parliament.
Directly interested in steady development of the
tourism trade, tour operators and travel agents
have been pooling their efforts together within the
framework of different professionals. Membership
of the National Tourism Association includes the
whole spectrum of the national tourism industry,
including tour operators, travel agents, air carriers,
hotels, insurance companies, museums and other
tourism enterprises. This national association has
been actively involved in drafting legislation and
other standard-setting documents as well as development
programmes. It lobbies tourism development
projects and promotes education and
professional training in this field.
NATELA SHENGELA, RUSSIA