Belarusian and Latvian tour operators should join forces in the tourism market - expert

May 17, Vitebsk / Diana Kurilo - BELTA /. Belarusian and Latvian tour operators should consider opportunities for joint work in the tourism market. This opinion was expressed in a conversation with a BELTA correspondent by Grigory Pomerantsev, Chairman of the Board of the Riga Tourism Development Bureau. A familiarization tour for Latvian tour operators is taking place in the Vitebsk region. The group includes representatives of 10 major Latvian travel companies that organize outbound tourism, as well as two transport companies. Expressing the unanimous opinion of the professionals, Grigory Pomerantsev noted that the Vitebsk region is a very interesting, but still little-known region for Latvian tourists. At the same time, it offers broad opportunities for organizing historical and cultural, health, and nature tourism in the region. Tour operators were interested in the "Lesnoye" sanatorium, the Ministry of Defense sanatorium, "Borovoye," as well as the prospects for organizing family holidays in the Berezinsky Biosphere Reserve. Grigory Pomerantsev expressed the opinion that close cooperation between Latvian and Belarusian leisure organizers is necessary. "Tour operators need to consider the possibility of consolidating tourist flows, organizing cross-border tours, and joint work in the tourism market of third countries," he said. Svetlana Telikhane, Director of the Riga travel company Travel Fgency, noted that Latvian tourists are interested in holidays in Belarus. In particular, tours to Logoisk and "Silichi" are popular in her company. Speaking about the high level of service and organization of leisure, she regretted the lack of flexibility in hotel pricing. "Hotels lack a discount system for regular customers and for large groups. This is a global practice, and it should be taken into account," she advises. Dagnija Lace-Atē, Head of the Consulate of Latvia in Vitebsk, expressed hope that the current tour of Latvian tour operators to the region will be the first step towards organizing mass tourist flows between Belarus and Latvia. The promotional tour runs from May 16 to 18 through Dokshitsky, Lepelsky, Beshenkovichsky, Polotsky, Gluboksky, Miorsky, Sharkovshchinsky, Verkhnedvinsky, and Braslavsky districts, as well as through Polotsk, Novopolotsk, and Vitebsk. The organizers of the promotional tour were the Consulate of Latvia in Vitebsk and the Department of Physical Culture, Sports and Tourism of the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee.-0-