Department of Sports and Tourism: Vitebsk region will focus on the development of domestic tourism
"Last year was not easy for the tourism sector, but nevertheless, domestic tourism gave a chance to those firms that provided tours around the Vitebsk region to reorient themselves and not be left without work. This year, we will focus on the development of domestic tourism. The leading areas will be health improvement, agro-ecotourism, and sports services," noted Vasily Zakharevich.
Last year, about 103 thousand people underwent health improvement in the region, of which over 87 thousand were Belarusians, including more than 20 thousand children under 18 years old. Children's sanatoriums were filled to almost 100% capacity. The most popular among vacationers were the sanatoriums "Plissa", "Lettsy", "Lesnoye", which offer various types of health improvement services.
This year, the modernization of the material and technical base of most sanatoriums and health organizations will continue. A new residential building with 166 beds is under construction at the "Zhemchuzhina" sanatorium, with its commissioning planned for 2025.
Despite the difficulties in other areas due to the pandemic, agro-ecotourism significantly succeeded in 2020. There are 670 agro-estates in the Vitebsk region. The top three districts in terms of the number of such facilities are Braslav district (303 agro-estates), Miory district (56), and Glubokoye district (47). "We will not stop there. We are encouraging active citizens to build new houses in picturesque places and develop eco-tourism. More than 210 plots with a total area of over 670 hectares have been allocated in the region for agro-ecobusiness, and the conditions for novice owners of such estates are more than acceptable," emphasized Vasily Zakharevich.
He added that the current five-year plan includes the construction, modernization, and reconstruction of over 100 tourism facilities. The upgrades will affect roadside services and hotels. For example, in the Orsha district, a roadside cafe on the M1 highway is being modernized into a park hotel. In the district center, the former household services building will be transformed into a tourist and hotel complex, located opposite the ice arena.
Regarding the expansion of sports services, 4 major facilities will be commissioned this year: the central stadium in the urban settlement of Shumilino, the fitness and sports complex in Babinichi (Orsha district), the sports complex in Orsha, and the fitness and recreation center in Glubokoye. The improved sports facilities will be open to local residents and visitors of these settlements, allowing more people to embrace a healthy lifestyle and engage in active recreation beneficial for their health.
In the upcoming five-year period, approximately Br300 thousand is also planned to be allocated for tourism marketing. The measures aimed at enhancing the prestige of tourist facilities in the Vitebsk region include international exhibitions, seminars, familiarization tours, and meetings with foreign delegations, where films about the Vitebsk region, its attractions, and most appealing tourist zones will be showcased.