National routes, Vyborg pretzels and high standards of service have become a current format of tourism in the Leningrad region.
New trends in the tourism industry were discussed at the panel discussion “Hospitality Architecture. How tourism, marketing and local gastronomy form a new vector of travel demand in Russia” at the stand of the Leningrad region at VDNKh on Region Day.
“The Leningrad region has been and remains attractive to tourists. In the first half of this year alone, 6 million 600 thousand tourist trips were made to the Leningrad Region,” said Olga Golubeva, Deputy Chairman of the Committee on Culture and Tourism of the Leningrad Region.
Today, three national tourist routes are in high demand among tourists in the 47th region: “History and Mysteries of Medieval Vyborg”, “Sovereign Road”, “Grand Tour. All Karelia." This year, more than 700 thousand tourists visited museums on these routes.
Currently, in the Leningrad region there are 935 collective accommodation facilities - hotels, recreation centers, cottages, hostels, rural houses, the total number of rooms of which is more than 13.5 thousand. The depth of their bookings and sales of tours is almost 98% and is carried out six months in advance. The most popular among travelers are Vyborg, Gatchina, Priozersk and Vsevolozhsk. In recent years, 7 ski resorts in the region, which meet international standards, have been in great demand.
“An important component of travel today is not only comfortable living conditions, but also local cuisine,” added Olga Golubeva. Today, the Leningrad region has its own gastronomic brands, which tourists want to try along with visiting the sights. This includes the famous Vyborg pretzel, Ladoga smelt, and Ivangorod lamprey; the most popular drink is cider.
The high standard of guest service in the Ladoga region today is set by the famous Igora resort in the Priozersky region and the Tochka na karte hotel chain.
“The government of the Leningrad region is doing a lot of work with universities to train line personnel, managers and executives for tourism enterprises,” said a representative of the regional committee for culture and tourism.
To promote the tourism potential of the region, the region is represented at Russian and international tourism exhibitions.
“In this process, the entire tourism business, promoting itself, promotes the region. It is very important that we work as a single team,” shared Olga Golubeva.
