Will Russia create tourism ministry?

Russia should create a ministry of tourism, the chairman of the State Duma's Physical Culture, Sport, Tourism, and Youth Affairs Committee, Mikhail Degtyarev, said at a press conference dedicated to the World Cup 2018. According to the World Tourism Organization, Russia is able to welcome 40 million foreign visitors annually, he recalled.

According to the MP, it is necessary to provide a tool for the development of domestic and inbound tourism - the tourism renovation fund, which could manage the state objects of tourist infrastructure - starting from boarding houses and sanatoria to hotels. "The foundation could prepare investment proposals and offer facilities to businesses on a competitive basis," RIA Novosti cited Degtyarev as saying.

The chairman of the State Duma's Physical Culture, Sport, Tourism, and Youth Affairs Committee pointed to another state mechanism to increase interest from investors - a new federal target program for the development of domestic and inbound tourism. It provides for the most effective methods of supporting entrepreneurs, in particular subsidizing mechanisms for those who invest in the development of tourism, Degtyarev pointed out.

Professor of the Department of Business Process Management in Production and Service of RANEPA, Galina Dekhtyar, speaking to Vestnik Kavkaza, noted that a proposal to create a separate tourism ministry is fully justified. "In 1995, we already had a separate ministry, then we decided that tourism is a branch of the economy and it was given to the Ministry of Economic Development. Many countries have separate ministries of tourism that deal with both legislative work and controlling functions. Mikhail Degtyarev's proposal is absolutely real, and I support it, since the existence of two managing structures - the Ministry of Culture and Federal Agency for Tourism - creates problems for businessmen. In addition, reduced spending on structures will positively affect the state budget," she explained.

"The Ministry of Culture has a wide range of functions, and it would be reasonable to give tourist functions to a separate ministry. Tourism is a developing branch of the economy that should bring a lot of money, but it requires good regulation, subsidization and control," Galina Dekhtyar stressed.

According to her assessment, the most important state regulation today is required by the hotel industry and logistics services. "Hotel rating is, first of all, safety, then quality. On the other hand - everything related to the transportation of tourists. Now the Ministry of Transport is responsible for this, including licensing air carriers, issuing permits for sea and river cruises, tracking flights and routes, although it would be better if this area was under the authority of a separate tourism ministry," the professor of the Department of Business Process Management in Production and Service of RANEPA concluded.