Tourism is economic driver

The second day of PIEF-2019 was dedicated to the key topic - development of tourism in our republic. Its discussion was launched during the plenary session “Territory Marketing. Travel trends, strategies, practices". The participants in the discussion were deputies of the Supreme Council Mikhail Burla, Victor Guzun, Vadim Doni.

The guest of the forum from Odessa, Ivan Liptuga, representing the national tourism organization, acted as a moderator.

If in the 50s of the last century, 25 million people traveled around the world annually, then last year the number of travelers amounted to 1.4 billion people. According to forecasts, in 2030 there will already be 2 billion. 51% of all tourist visits will be in Europe, 25% in Asia, 15% in America, 5% in Africa and 4% in the Middle East. Tourism is becoming a real industry and the fastest growing sector of the economy, ahead of even the automotive industry. The contribution of tourism to world GDP is 10%. Every tenth employed person in the world works in this sector of the economy.

The adviser to the President Pavel Prokudin made a presentation on the “Tourism Potential of Pridnestrovie and Development Prospects” before the participants of the plenary session of the investment forum. The tourist theme is close to him, because for several years he headed the historical military-memorial complex Bendery Fortress.

According to the speaker, the collapse of the USSR and the military conflict of the 92nd negatively affected the image of Pridnestrovie. To break this trend is very difficult. In the 80s of the last century, Pridnestrovie was visited by half a million tourists a year. Now we can only dream of such numbers, but we also need to strive to achieve such indicators.

The adviser to the President listed the main tourist brands of Pridnestrovie for the forum guests. This is Bendery fortress, Kitskansky monastery, park named after Rodin in the village Chobruchi, military memorial complex and the monument "Russian Glory" in Bendery.

According to the presidential adviser, we should dispel the fakes about Pridnestrovie as a "black hole". The report of Pavel Prokudin abounded with interesting data and figures. For 38% of countries, tourism is the main source of income, and in 83% this area is in the top five sectors - budget donors. It turns out that 60% of travelers are women. They are the main initiators of trips abroad.

As a demographer, he outlined the dominant trend of aging nations, which would lead to an increase in the number of older tourists. Based on this factor, in his opinion, the tourism industry itself should change.

Igor Beloborodov, among others, called attractive for foreign tourists the multinational, multilingual nature of our republic, as well as relatively low prices in comparison with other countries.

Discussion of tourism development prospects in Pridnestrovie was continued in the framework of panel discussions.