PM: Belarus' exports of travel services likely to reach $270m by end of 2024
The Government expects that, by the end of 2024, exports of Belarus’ tourist will exceed the pre-pandemic period – as noted by Prime Minister Roman Golovchenko at a meeting of the Presidium of the Council of Ministers focusing on the problems of tourism development in the republic
The Prime Minister noted that the Belarusian tourism industry had recovered after the pandemic, “This forced everyone to get used to the new conditions. By the end of 2024, exports of tourist services are expected to reach $270m, which will exceed the pre-pandemic level. At the same time, we generate the vast majority of exports of tourist services at the expense of Russian travellers. This is good, but not enough. There have been no significant decisions or results to diversify exports of such services.”
According to Mr. Golovchenko, domestic tourism has intensified significantly. “This is one of the tasks that we set. Since 2019, the number of tourists travelling within the country has increased by 60 percent. Let me remind you that 2019 was the best year for the tourism sector of Belarus in many respects. At the same time, it must be recognised that this result is due not only to the effective work of the branch heads, but also to the external factors that complicate logistics and increase the cost of outbound tourism,” he explained.
The PM stressed that the insufficiently developed infrastructure for the guests' stay does not contribute to the further progressive development of the branch. According him, the republic lacks economy class hotels that can accommodate several organised tourist groups. “This problem is most typical for tourist regions. Therefore, our domestic tourism is mainly focused on one-day or two-day trips. There is a need to develop related services, roadside services, especially on the most popular routes," Mr. Golovchenko said, adding that tourists are becoming more demanding, and the services in some hotels, especially in regional centres, are not at the highest level.
At the same time, the PM drew attention to the fact that a popular opinion that there was nothing to see in the country had been changed, “There are many sights in Belarus, we have places to spend time at, but we sometimes lack accessible and interesting information about them. There are practically no comprehensive offers aimed at individual target audiences, primarily young people. The work in this area should be – in a positive sense – aggressive and offensive, as it is in others spheres now,” Mr. Golovchenko stated.
The PM instructed to report on the real results of the three-year work of the National Tourism Development Strategy until 2035 and what will be introduced in the country in the near future, including in terms of the issues identified.
