Tatarstan will reach the milestone of 4 million tourists by the end of 2023

Today, the Volga Region University of Physical Culture, Sports and Tourism hosted the final board of the State Committee of Tatarstan on Tourism with the participation of Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic Leila Fazleeva.

The chairman of the State Committee Sergey Ivanov reported on the results of the tourism industry in 2023 and the tasks for the current year. He noted that last year was a landmark year for the tourism industry of Tatarstan and according to forecasts, the tourist flow to the republic by the end of 2023 will overcome the historical milestone of 4 million people.

"The year 2023 passed for us under the sign of participation in the national project "Tourism and Hospitality Industry" initiated by the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin. Successful implementation of all activities of the national project in the Republic of Tatarstan is the first task we have been working hard on all year. Within the framework of the national project, five measures were implemented in the Republic of Tatarstan, for which 817.4 million roubles were allocated," said Sergey Ivanov.

The first measure is the creation of a city centre tourism code. Two cities - Kazan and Yelabuga - received funding under this support measure. Under these projects, the Old Tatar Sloboda in Kazan and the historical centre of Yelabuga became even more attractive and comfortable for residents and guests of the republic. Seventy-nine buildings and monuments were illuminated, tourist navigation, public sanitary facilities at key locations, art objects and sculptures, a stage for events, benches and other landscaping elements were installed, including a light installation "Iske Tatar Bistase" on the end of the building at 7 Tatarstan Street.

The second event was the SoCreation international music festival. This is a new festival that took place in Kazan on 8-9 September and revived Kazan's status as a musical capital.

The third event was the creation and development of beaches on the banks of water bodies in Tatarstan. According to the results of the competitive selection, 22 projects were supported to create beaches on the territory of sanatoriums, glamping sites, recreation centres, and to improve urban beaches in several municipalities. New beaches on the banks of the Volga, Kama, small rivers and lakes in 13 districts of Tatarstan will welcome their first visitors in the 2024 beach season.

The fourth event is the creation of the Centre for the Development of Human Resources Potential of the Tourism Industry at the Volga Region University of Physical Culture, Sports and Tourism. Such centres with different specialisations have been created only in three regions - Moscow Region, St. Petersburg and Tatarstan. Our centre trains regional teams to design tourism clusters.

Today, it is one of the most high-tech centres for training specialists in the tourism industry.

In 2023, three teams from the Republic of Tatarstan, the Republic of Bashkortostan and the Samara Region were trained. In 2024, 21 more regional teams will be trained.

The fifth activity is the creation of modular non-capital accommodation facilities. Thus, in the reporting year, thanks to the national project, 18 countryside recreation facilities with 229 rooms were put into operation. In 2024, another 13 projects will be realised. Thanks to this support measure, 176 rooms will be put into operation in the suburbs of Kazan and 10 districts of the republic.

This year, among the tasks is the development of the interregional project "Great Volga Way". In 2023, it was given the status of a national tourist route. This route runs through three regions of the Volga region - Tatarstan, Chuvashia and Mari El - and introduces the history, culture and traditions of the peoples living on the banks of the Volga River, Sergei Ivanov added.

In addition, it is planned to pay attention to the creation of new hotel infrastructure facilities. In 2023, 7 entrepreneurs received approval at the Investment Council and began preparations for the procedure of obtaining land plots for the placement of recreation and leisure facilities without tenders. This measure has shown its effectiveness, it was noted by the Chairman of the State Committee of Tatarstan on Tourism.

In September 2023, within the framework of the meeting of the Board of Directors of the Tourism.RF Corporation, the master plan of the Kazan Marina tourist area was approved. To date, nine investment lots for the construction of tourist infrastructure - hotels, restaurants, entertainment centres and other tourism facilities - are available for private investors. It is planned that 1250 rooms will be created and more than 21 billion rubles of investment will be invested.

Among the tasks for the current year are also the creation of comfortable conditions for car travellers and the training of tourism and hospitality enterprises.

preparation of tourism and hospitality enterprises for international events to be held in 2024. The most important of which is the BRICS Summit.

Leyla Fazleeva in her speech drew attention to creating conditions for the return of tourists to our republic. “Tatarstan is one of the leading centers of the tourism industry, the indicators of tourist flow that we have today require several actions from us: it is necessary to work to increase this flow, which will increase with the provision of a quality product. Quality issues today relate to the number of rooms, organization of catering and the quality of the excursion product that is offered in the republic. One of the mechanisms for assessing the quality is our participation with you, which consists of getting to know the offered tourist services with further exchange of opinions and feedback. They expect a high quality product from us, one that will surprise , will inspire, impress and once again return guests to the republic,” emphasized the Deputy Prime Minister of Tatarstan.

At the meeting of the board, reports were also made by the General Director of JSC "Fleet of the Republic of Tatarstan" Roman Lizalin, the Minister of Sports and Tourism of the Republic of Mari El Lidiya Batyukova, the President of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Tatarstan Rifkat Minnikhanov, the First Deputy Head of the Executive Committee of the Mamadysh District of Tatarstan Ainur Aglyamov and the Chairman of the Board of the Association of Restaurateurs and hoteliers of Kazan and the Republic of Tatarstan Zufar Gayazov.

At the end, the most distinguished employees of the industry were awarded state and departmental awards. Among those noted are employees of the Volga Region University of Sports.