Free tourism development trainings will be held in Polotsk district under an EU project
Polotsk, along with Grodno, has been recognized as a multifunctional center of international level with priority development of cultural and educational, religious, and pilgrimage tourism in accordance with the General Scheme for the Placement of Health Improvement, Tourism, and Recreation Zones and Facilities in Belarus for 2016-2020 and for the period up to 2030, approved at the end of last year. "This is a great responsibility. And we hope that the trainings will help us modernize approaches to organizing tours and will energize people involved in tourism and related fields. However, this is not the only event of the "Support for Sustainable Tourism Development in Belarus" project.
It has been implemented in Belarus for about a year. This included organizing seminars and experience exchange trips abroad. But here, the range of potential training participants will be wider. Also, upon completion of the course, each participant will receive a certificate of completion," noted Aleksei Klinishov. The trainings will cover the following five topics: "Animation Programs for Tourists," "Cultural Tourism, the Art of Engaging Storytelling (Storytelling), Gastronomic Tourism, Souvenirs," "Event Organization/Management, Sports and Recreational Tourism," "Assessment of Tourism Resources and Their Management," and "Financial Resources for Tourism Projects from Foreign Funding Sources."
The classes may be held on trips within Belarus, they will be conducted free of charge in Russian by international and national experts. One participant can attend several or all of the trainings. Everyone who works or intends to work in tourism, has ideas and plans for the development of the sphere, has a basic education, or owns a business in tourism is invited to participate in the classes. An application marked "Tourism. For training" should be sent to the email address of the relevant department of the district executive committee or
fax (8 0214) 42-69-49 until February 8. The selection of applications will be carried out on a competitive basis. The international technical assistance project "Support for Sustainable Tourism Development in Belarus" has been implemented effectively (after approval by the Council of Ministers) since March 2016 by a consortium – European Profiles S.A (Greece), European Projects Management Ltd (Latvia), Archidata srl (Italy), VOKRUG SVETA Ltd (Belarus).The main partners of the program are the Ministry of Sport and Tourism and the National Tourism Agency, regional executive committees, local authorities and NGOs involved in the development of rural and cultural tourism and environmental protection. The project budget is 1.6 million euros. The pilot territories selected are the most promising: Polotsk district and the city of Polotsk; the territory located along the road surrounding Belovezhskaya Pushcha, including Kamenets and Pruzhany districts; Mstislav district of Mogilev region and the city of Mstislav; Myadel district and the city of Myadel. Currently, the Augustow Canal has been added to the selected destinations. For these regions, the program provides for the creation of local working groups, analysis of the tourism situation, development of strategies and plans for sustainable tourism development, organization of familiarization tours, training, seminars, workshops, conferences, presentations, creation of brands for these territories and promotional websites. The project is designed for 30 months.
Ekaterina Knyazeva - BELTA.