Ilsur Metshin: "Tourism is one of the most promising sectors of city economy"

(Kazan, KZN.RU, January 13, by Zilya Gayfi). The tourist boom observed in Kazan over the January holidays had an impressive economic impact: 70 thousand tourists who chose the capital of Tatarstan for travel this winter brought the city more than a billion rubles. These encouraging figures in times of crisis were made public at today's business meeting held in the Old Tatar settlement, during which Mayor of Kazan Ilsur Metshin discussed with representatives of Tatarstan's Association of Restaurateurs and Hoteliers tourism business during the past year and its prospects for the coming year.

The meeting place was not chosen accidentally: the Old Tatar settlement was the site where the New Year fair was held at the Lake Kaban waterfront. Recall that the idea to create a center of attraction for tourists and businessmen in the historical part of the capital was made last November. Ilsur Metshin noted that street entertainment is popular in Kazan in both winter and summer. "This is not reinventing the wheel; we should do our best to promote our city at such fairs. It is at such fairs that city tours are bought in Europe," he said.

"Seventy thousand tourists visited Kazan this January, compared with 48 thousand over the same period last year; thus we are seeing a 1.5-fold increase. These 70 thousand tourists spent more than one billion rubles in Kazan. The figure is composed of such items of expenditure as accommodation, transportation, sightseeing and food. The lion's share of spending went to accommodation – about 367 million and food – about 300 million,"  quoted the statistics Ivan Kuznetsov, deputy head of the Executive Committee on Economic Affairs.

It should be added that the capital of Tatarstan entered the top five among the most visited Russian cities over the New Year's Holidays, thus confirming its status of a city  with rapidly growing tourism. At the same time, as experience shows, visitors to Kazan are attracted not only by its history and sights, but also by its rich program of events.

The fact that Kazan is popular with tourists is also confirmed by hotel and restaurant owners. The average hotel occupancy during the holidays was about 90%. Inspired by the New Year's achievement, entrepreneurs made a number of new proposals to the mayor that could be implemented in the current year.

Ilsur Metshin approved the entrepreneurs' initiative, but encouraged them to think big, to develop a detailed concept for the development of tourism in the city. "Along with the IT-sphere, tourism is one of the most promising sectors of city economy. We should attract both Russian and foreign tourists. Because of the difference in exchange rates, it has become more sensible for Europeans to visit us. In addition, we notice a sharp increase in investor activity this year," said the mayor and proposed creating a fund for event management, to which the Association should contribute.

"The development of tourism business is not a task only for the city; entrepreneurs should also make their contribution. We need to take action guaranteed to bring results. For example, we should make the most of the upcoming FINA Championships. Our next chance to impress will come four years later, by which time we should grow further," said the mayor.