El establecimiento del Ministerio de Turismo se discutirá en Rusia

The idea of establishing the Ministry of Tourism has been raised during the meeting of the Federation Council. The senators proposed to found a specialized department for tourism possessing broad powers including the issuance of tourist visas.

It should be noted that the issue of establishing the Ministry of Tourism is currently being raised. The Chairman of the State Duma Committee for Physical Culture, Sport, Tourism and Youth Affairs Mikhail Degtyarev reported that it is necessary to found a tool for the development of domestic and inbound tourism which could regulate state objects of tourist infrastructure from holiday and health centers to hotels.

The Chairman stressed that the state has one more mechanism to increase the interest of investors – a new federal program for the development of domestic and inbound tourism. “A political decision has been made that the next program which will begin to operate from 2019, must be developed and adopted in a new version,” the deputy said. According to him, it provides for the most effective methods of supporting entrepreneurs, in particular subsidizing mechanisms for those who invest in the development of tourism.

The Vice President of the Federation of Restaurateurs and Hoteliers Ivan Merkulov has also voiced the arguments for the creation of a separate Ministry of Tourism. He noted that the tourism industry is under pressure due to the absence of a unified state body responsible for its development. “There is no hotel industry in the country now; there is only a business that acts on its own. If the Ministry of Tourism is established, the hotel sector should be regulated by the deputy minister,” Ivan Merkulov said.

The Ministry of Tourism could conduct statistics, develop a strategy for tourism activity, discuss investment projects for the development of tourism infrastructure and manage the tourism development program.