Russian government has expanded region's opportunities for ecotourism development

The Government of the Russian Federation has determined the list of tourist facilities allowed for construction. It includes hotels, cultural centers, and visitor centers.

“A permit to build tourist facilities in the forest will allow entrepreneurs to get out of the grey zone: start classifying hotels and paying taxes. The adopted changes will ensure both an increase in the quality of services and income for the regions,” said Dmitry Vakhrukov, Deputy Minister of Economic Development of Russia.

Regions will be able to offer new sites to entrepreneurs for business development. The innovation will allow more systematic development of tourism. Businessmen will be able to legitimately use the existing support measures in the field of tourism, including the restructuring of budget loans, the mechanism of infrastructure budget loans, and concessional lending.

According to ATOR Executive Director Maya Lomidze, the bill is a step forward in solving one of the most important problems of ecotourism - the creation of accommodation facilities in nature conservation areas.

Recall that Bashkortostan hit third in the All-Russian competition for the development of ecotourism, organized by the Agency for Strategic Initiatives. The republic presented the tourist cluster "Heart of Bashkiria" (which includes the national park "Bashkiria", the geopark "Toratau" and the natural park "Zilim").

Author: Azat Gizzatullin