About 6,000 tourists per day visit the Braslav district during the summer season

May 22, Minsk /BELTA/. The Braslav district receives about 6,000 tourists per day during the summer season. This was reported to BELTA correspondent by the acting General Director of the Braslav Lakes National Park, Andrei Kudin. According to him, considering that the population of the Braslav district is only about 32,000 people, such tourist flow provides significant support to both its economy and local residents. Last year, the national park's tourist complexes received 6.2 thousand tourists. The majority of vacationers come from major Belarusian cities, mainly Minsk and Vitebsk. The number of foreign tourists who visited the national park's tourist complexes in 2008 was 1,110 people. These were citizens of Russia, the USA, France, Poland, Germany, Austria, Norway, and other countries. "Lately, foreigners have started coming to the Braslav Lakes not for trophies, but specifically to relax: to swim in the clean lakes, walk in the forest, and visit unique natural sites," noted Vladimir Petkevich, leading specialist of the environmental institution's tourism department. However, recently the park management has noted low activity in ornithological tours. "Perhaps not all foreigners are aware of the opportunities our national park offers, although for ecotourism, the Braslav Lakes are one of the most promising places, not only within Belarus," explained the leading specialist. The national park covers an area of 69.1 thousand hectares. Its territory contains over 70 lakes, which occupy 12% of the park's area. The largest of them are Lake Drivyaty, Snudy, Boginskoye, and Strusto. Lake Volos Yuzhny is considered the deepest, with a maximum depth of over 40 meters. The flora of higher vascular plants in the national park includes 70 species, 16 of which are listed in the Red Book. The park is home to 188 species of nesting birds, 41 species of mammals, 30 species of fish, 5 species of reptiles, and 10 species of amphibians. -0-