NEWS

At the last meeting the Director General of the ANO "Tourism Development Center of the Republic of Tatarstan" Dilbar Sadykova told about the implementation of special projects of the Tourism Development Center of the Republic of Tatarstan in 2017 and plans for 2018: " In 2017, the Tourism Development Center of the Republic of Tatarstan implemented more than 30 projects aimed at development of the tourism and hospitality industry in the country, as well as promotion of a local tourist product in promising markets.

In 2017, most of the work is devoted to the implementation of the "Program for the Development of the VT Brand Tour Destination" and the achievement of brand performance indicators: from nontypical promotions and advertising companies, work on information resources for tourists, creation of a new route, start for the accreditation of the brand, work with the souvenir market to the holding the international forum Guidelines for the Future.

The TDC as the organization, following the trends and new directions of development in territorial branding, gives serious attention to analytics in tourism, monitoring of the hotel market.

Such a project as the Portrait of a Tourist allows you to determine the socio-demographic characteristics of tourists, as well as to identify the channels for obtaining information about the republic and resources that influence the decision making and in the future helps us to form a communication strategy for the promotion of the tourism product of the Republic of Tatarstan and understand the target audience.

Let me share the changes that happened in 2017. We see that the share of individual tourists is growing (who travels with friends or family), which means there is a demand for a personal approach in the provision of services and selection of routes.

Among the main trends in 2017, one can note a decrease in the cost of tourists for accommodation, in connection with this, the number of tourists who stay on rented apartments has increased by 10%.
Most often, tourists travel by train. Tourists are mostly family people, most often traveling without children, and their purpose of the trip is "vacation/rest/leisure", most of the travelers came to Tatarstan for the first time for 2-3 days and ready to return to the republic again.

The study shows that the younger the tourist - the shorter his/her visit, and tourists aged 35 years and older come for a longer period. This is confirmed by the world trend - the youth began to travel more often, but the duration of stay in one place became shorter.

Today before the board we also conducted a survey among you. Each of us also happens to be a tourist, so here the survey showed the identical tendencies. Among those who will recommend Tatarstan to visit for others is 94%, with the number of satisfied guests steadily growing (in 2015 this figure was 88%, in 2016 - 90%), the especially high indicator is in spring and summer. When planning a trip, 80% of respondents use Internet sites, growth is fixed by 11% compared to 2016, and according to the survey, 32% of the respondents consult with friends and relatives.

It is important that when choosing a rest on the domestic market, tourists in 2017 more actively used the sources about the rest in Tatarstan on Internet portals and in social network services, which indicates the active work of Tatarstan in the Internet and the presence in the information field at a sufficiently high level.

The study of arriving tourists for the New Year holidays in the period from 30.12.2017 to 08.01.2018 showed that the number of tourists arriving in the Republic of Tatarstan by private car has increased. (from 9.4% to 22.8%). There is also a pattern: the older the tourists, the higher the estimate of the satisfaction of their stay. Men spent more money while staying in Tatarstan than women. (Expenses of men made 26,188.89 rubles, expenses of women – 23,188.54 rubles)

In 2017, within the FIFA Confederations Cup, the TDC compiled the Portrait of a fan for the first time. The fan who visited Kazan in the matches of the FIFA Confederations Cup 2017, is mostly a man aged from 26 to 35, who flew to the capital by plane or arrived by train (69.5 %) with a group of several or more people (83.3 %) and stayed at the hotel (38.4%) for 2-3 days (51.3%), slightly less than respondents (24.7%) stayed in the republic for almost a week. Besides Kazan, the fans during their stay in Tatarstan visited the island-city Sviyazhsk, Bolgar, Raifsky monastery.

The absolute majority of the fans surveyed were satisfied with their trip to Kazan and Tatarstan, are ready to return to the republic again and will recommend our region to visit to their friends and relatives. These indicators confirm that Tatarstan for fans both from other cities of Russia and foreign visitors, has left pleasant impressions about travel to region, a lot of respondents already have planned the next trip.

Besides, the fans were asked to evaluate the work of the infrastructure categories of Kazan on the 10-point scale (1-very bad, 10-very good). Thus, the level of service in the means of accommodation of Kazan was on average estimated at 8.47 points, work of the transport system at 8.20 points, establishments of public catering (restaurants, cafes) at 8.77 points, and comfortable environment of the capital of Tatarstan at 8.38 points.

Feedback received from the fans was analyzed. According to the results of the survey, the question "What can be improved for the FIFA World Cup?", the list of popular issues was:

- the organization of fan-zone with the ability to view the matches.

- the information materials about the transport system: the fans noted the lack of information about the schedule/routes/bus stops. Some even offered to supplement the underground to Kazan-Arena.

- providing access to communal toilets in tourist places. So a tourist does not always quickly find public restrooms, there is a world practice, when the places of public catering allow guests to the restrooms of their establishment completely free of charge. This practice we propose to introduce for the period of the FIFA World Cup 2018. - the increase of the level of knowledge of foreign languages (mainly English) in the service of tourists, as well as an increase in the number of symbols and signs in the city, museums and tourist centers in English.

According to the received indicators, based on the results of surveys within the framework of the projects "Portrait of a Tourist" and "Portrait of a Fan" we form our strategy for promotion in social network services (Vkontakte, instagram, facebook), for each of the social network services we prepare our unique content that meets the ideology Visit Tatarstan. The VT accounts regularly display the interesting facts about the cities of Tatarstan, tourist places and compilations for visiting by the travelers, interesting contests and surveys that allow you to keep the visitor and answer their requests.

In 2017, the monitoring was conducted in the direction of ORM (Operating Reputation Management in the Internet space), so over the last year on various Internet resources there were more than 92 thousand refs about Tatarstan, of which slightly less than 2 thousand are negative, the rest ones - the positive or neutral ones. We have tracked every ref, which concerns tourist venues, hotels and places of rest, according to negative comments we carried out corresponding work on elimination of their reasons causing dissatisfaction of visitors of the republic directly with venues, the measures taken are up to the users. Negative comments of a general nature (for example, it was bad weather) were worked out by the spreads of positive comments (And I like Kazan in any weather), thus forming a general positive background on the Internet and a tourist quality system aimed at forming a reputation for Tatarstan as a comfortable region for the rest.

In the hall there is an exhibition of the VT souvenir products, the development of a product range, design and conformity to its brand - this is a separate direction that the TDC conducts with the support of the SC. Behind the VT brand, there is not only the visual range, but the rethinking of the tourist product, the transfer of the lifestyle of the local population, the high level of services and the most important thing is the sensations of pleasure and satisfaction!

In 2017, a lot of work was carried out to study the available souvenir base in Tatarstan, the design and presentation of souvenir products according to contemporary trends were worked out, the first sales places were determined, the first catalogue of souvenir products presented in several directions was prepared.  Today the VT has a registered trademark. Refs from city residents and tourists have shown that the VT products are in great demand, they like and are unique!

It is important that products appear in trade centers, were used by our ministries and institutions as presentation materials. For our part, in 2018 we will continue popularization of the VT souvenirs among the residents of the republic and guests, we will expand the range and conduct appropriate negotiations on localization of production in Tatarstan.

In connection with the gained experience and the accomplished tasks of 2017, in 2018 we will continue the chosen course. Thus, the activity on monitoring the quality system showed the need to organize and conduct the educational module "Hospitality. Reboot", which became the traditional eve of major sporting events and held in 2013 and 2015. Participants of the module will be representatives of hotels, restaurants, museums, security services, it is planned to cover about 5 thousand people. Within the framework of the training, it is planned to improve the skills of business communication, to study cultural and national peculiarities of communication with foreigners, management of expectations, contemporary methods of promotion for tourist products. The training will be held in the format of master classes from the leading trainers of the hospitality industry, each listener will be given the  educational benefit.

Also in 2018, in our plans, there is the launch of the "Visit Tatarstan Educational Academy" project aimed at immersing the main players in the tourism brand.

The course, which includes lectures and master classes for representatives of hotels, restaurants, tour operators, souvenir production and stores, museums, entertainment facilities and guides, will allow to develop and implement a unified quality system, explore new marketing opportunities for the industry, increase the attractiveness of services for tourists and to form new approaches to their promotion.

Hotels and restaurants, representatives of which will be trained, will get the statute accredited by the brand Visit Tatarstan places and enter the recommended routes to tourists. Thus, the project will increase loyalty to the brand and involve not only the staff, but also the infrastructure and related services in the process. "

The manager of the hotel "Relita-Kazan", the President of the Association of hotels of Kazan and Tatarstan made a presentation "Events as a Driver of the Hotel Market": in January 2017 at the general meeting of hotels of the Republic of Tatarstan it was decided to create the Association of hotels of Kazan and Tatarstan. This was one of the most important events for our hotel industry. Today the Association includes 60 hotels in the republic from the cities of Kazan, Naberezhnye Chelny and Elabuga.

The Association of hotels is a professional association of hotels created to protect the interests of hoteliers and provide assistance in basic professional issues.

There are a lot of tasks for the Association of hotels, especially I would like to highlight the main ones:

1. Creation of an open platform of interaction and cooperation and exchange of experience of the hotel industry with the authorities, with specialized educational institutions, tour operators, with large Russian hotel communities (Federation of Restaurateurs and Hoteliers, RGA, etc.) and so forth.
2. Creation of a unified system of hotel informing about laws, upcoming events, professional actions and interests.
3. Assistance to the members of the AH in carrying out professional activity, protection of interests of hospitality industry enterprises.

During the short period of the existence of the Association of hotels, the following has been held:

1. The cycle of meetings "Business and Authority: Frank Talk" on the subject of hotel checks;
2. The Extended Session on Hotel Security in July 2017;
3. Speech at the Council on Entrepreneurship under the President of the RT in January 2018;
4. Interaction with the following state authorities is established: The Department of Internal Affairs of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for the Republic of Tatarstan for the Russian Federation, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Ministry of Emergency Situations, Rosgvardiya, Rospotrebnadzor and others.
5. The memo on registration of foreign citizens was compiled jointly with the Department of Internal Affairs of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for the Republic of Tatarstan for the Russian Federation; the methodical instructions for the preparation of hotels on safety standards - with the Ministry of Emergency Situations.
6. The issue of providing parking for tourist buses from hotels in the city center has been solved

Also, there are still open issues of hotels that need to be solved:

1. prohibition of placing the roof signs of hotels in the center on the territory of the Security Zone Project "Ensemble of the Kazan Kremlin"
2. reduction (according to Moscow's experience) of the tax rate on real estate property and land tax rate, calculated now from the cadastral value
3. reduction of the tax rate on movable property of hotels

The volume of the key count as of January 1, 2018 was:

• collective accommodation facilities of 17,528 beds in Kazan,
• collective accommodation facilities of more than 38,000 beds in the Republic of Tatarstan.

According to the statistics provided by the Tourism Development Center of the RT, the average load of hotels in the city of Kazan increased slightly compared to 2016 with an indicator of 55% and reached the value of 56%. The dynamics of indicators for the average load of hotels in 2017 was ambiguous and in its majority was stated under the sign of decline in comparison with the indicators of 2016. The unpleasant surprise was the decline in the load indicators in April (-6%) and May (-4%) compared to 2016 - precisely in those months, which invariably were a period of high load. Also the decline was in August (-3%), September (-1%) and October (-3%). The growth in comparison with 2016 was recorded in February (+2%) and March (+6%), June (+5%), July (+3%) and December (+4%).

Hotel indicators such as the Average Daily Rate (ADR) and the Revenue per available room (RevPAR) in 2017 have risen and have shown positive dynamics.

Thus, despite the decline in load in most months of 2017 relative to 2016 (except June, July, November and December), the growth of tariffs since the beginning of the year and the holding of the FIFA Confederations Cup in June, and as a consequence, the rise in Average Daily Rate and Revenue per available room allowed the hotels to achieve positive dynamics in comparison with 2016 and to increase annual figures on revenue and profitability.

For comparison data on load of Moscow and St. Petersburg:

So, according to the analytical agency "Cushman & Wakefield", "... for the first half of 2017 (January to August), the load indicators of Moscow do not show the convincing growth - neither in volumes, nor in tariffs, except for the FIFA Confederations Cup".

According to Hotel Advisors, hotels in St. Petersburg "... according to the results of 3 quarters (January-September) in 2017 showed a significant decline in the load and only the increase in prices allowed them to increase their profitability indicators".

Analyzing the load schedule for Kazan in 2017, we see that the peak of the load falls on the months and days of major events. The growth of the indicators in comparison with 2016 was fixed:

• in March (+6%) – children's festivals and vacations;
• in June (+5%) – the holding the FIFA Confederations Cup;
• in July (+3%) - the beach games competitions, Red bull air race,  International Conference MINEPS VI, Sabantuy, Summer Campus of the Presidential Academy, TNA fights and other events;
• in November (+4%) - the holding of children's vacations and holidays, sports competitions of the Swimming Championship and Swimming Cup;
• in December (+4%) - the celebration of the New Year holidays.

If we remember 2010 and 2011, such a growth was brought by such large-scale events and actions as the rock festival "Creation of the World", the tour of the Cirque du Soleil and the concert of Elton John in 2013.

As we see any show, ceremony, concert, various theatrical performances, festivals, also holding major sporting events or holding business international symposiums, conferences, seminars can be an excellent source for growth in the load and revenue of infrastructure venues: during the huge events, hotels, restaurants and shops selling souvenirs and other thematic attributes are also earning.

As examples of the world practice of using events to attract attention to the city and the country, one can mention:

1. the Carnival of Brazil and the Carnival of Venice
2. the Flower Parade in Amsterdam in September
3. the Moldova wine festival
4. the Oktoberfest in Germany
5. Fashion shows in Paris and Milan
6. Montreux Jazz Festival
7. Salzburg Music Festival
8. Kinotavr Film Festival in Sochi

How much it is interesting and profitable can be judged by the example of the large-scale Munich annual beer festival Oktoberfest. It lasts 2 weeks. Beer there really flows like water: for each festival its guests drink about six million litres of this beverage. According to statistics, at this time the city takes about six million tourists and the turnover of financial resources at the holiday is about 450 million euros.

All of the above mentioned proves that event tourism is a powerful driver for the hotel industry and the entire tourism industry as a whole. It is able to attract big money into the economy of the region and increase the load of hotels, restaurants in the period of traditionally low season."

The sphere of tourism in recent years has become one of the priority and dynamically developing branches of the economy of Tatarstan. This was announced today by the Prime Minister of the Republic of Tatarstan Aleksei Pesoshin at the proceeding of the Final Board of the State Committee on Tourism of RT, dedicated to the results of the authority in 2017. 

Aleksei Pesoshin in his speech stressed that the development of infrastructure, holding the major international events and the positive investment climate allowed Tatarstan to become one of the leaders in the development of tourism in Russia. Thus, in the reporting year more than 3 million tourists visited Tatarstan.

"Today, the Republic and its capital Kazan has something to see, where to rest. Specific activities for the development of tourism are included in the state program "Development of Tourism and Hospitality in the Republic of Tatarstan for 2014-2020," - the Prime Minister of RT said. - This year, in addition to the traditional venues, industrial enterprises of the Republic, as well as villages and hamlets with unique cultural and ethnic potential, have become available for tourists."  

Two historical holy sites - the ancient city of Bolgar and the island-city of Sviyazhsk - are popular in the guests of the republic. Today, each of them is visited by half a million tourists.

The tourist map of Tatarstan consists of a lot of tourist centers. According to the Chairman of the Government of RT, good performance is demonstrated by Elabuga, Chistopol, Tetyushi. Last year, the Republic of Tatarstan and its attractions were repeatedly recognized by the leaders of many Russian and international tourism development ratings.

Speaking about the quality and level of service at tourist venues, Aleksei Pesoshin called to remember that the number of foreign tourists is constantly growing. In 2017, there were about 280 thousand of them. "In this regard, we must take care of compliance with international standards at all venues of the tourist industry. The impression of our region depends on the level of hospitality that the guests see in our republic. In this direction, the work should be organized constantly", – the Chairman of the Government of RT said.

Aleksei Pesoshin stressed that tourism venues should be accessible and convenient for tourists. It concerns transport hubs, museums, hotels, restaurants, the information on venues in foreign languages, the staff with knowledge of foreign languages and corresponding level of service of foreign visitors is necessary. Besides, it is necessary to create a system of tourist navigation, understandable for any tourist, which is especially important in the run-up to the FIFA World Cup – 2018.

"When making management decisions at the tourist venues we must understand that they should be oriented towards tourists. This applies to the standards and working time pattern of museum venues, theatres, sports venues, cafes and restaurants", - the Prime Minister of RT said.

Aleksei Pesoshin called for special attention to the development of the domestic tourist flow: "It is the ecotourism, rural tourism, and event tourism. A special role in the promotion of domestic tourism belongs to the media and, first of all, the possibilities of the Internet resource".

Great potential in attraction of tourists can be revealed in work with the ethnic and cultural autonomies of the Tatars and Tatar diasporas in the regions of the Russian Federation and outside of the country, the Prime Minister of RT considers. The important component in this direction is the organization of presentations of tourist opportunities of Tatarstan in various subjects of Russia and countries of the distant and near abroad, where the Tatars live.

It should be noted that the development of domestic tourism is one of the strategic initiatives of the Russian President Vladimir Putin. In Russia, the Federal Target Program on the Development of Domestic and Inbound Tourism, designed for 2011-2018, is realized. Within its framework, under the conditions of public-private partnership in the regions of Russia the contemporary infrastructure is created. The Russian President notes that the potential of domestic Russian tourism is enormous, and it is necessary to continue active work in terms of infrastructure development. "Tatarstan has grown strongly in terms of domestic tourism. We have a large territory, and it cannot be uninteresting. There is a program for the development of domestic tourism, we will continue it. Domestic tourism is inexhaustible, it is simply unlimited. It is necessary only to create conditions, it is necessary, that people could reach comfortably and could spend time there", - the Russian leader added.

RT President press service

On January 25th the National Museum of the Republic of Tatarstan will host a traditional event for all students of "Tatiana Day in the Museum".

The museum staff this year has prepared a new program for future students, the idea of which is the orientation of pupils when entering universities.

On the same day, a quest game "Notes of a scientist ..." will be held for museum visitors, which will allow present and future students to get acquainted with the unique exhibits of the museum's founder A.F. Likhachev.

From 18 to 21 January 2018, the Republic of Tatarstan takes part in the International Tourist Exhibition "Matka Nordic Travel Fair". The exhibition dedicated to travel is held in Helsinki for the 26th time. Matka Nordic Travel Fair is the largest event in the Northern European tourism industry: the exhibition annually collects on one site more than 600 participants – representatives of tour operators and travel agencies, embassies and national tourist offices from 50 countries of the world. The event is attended by over 70 000 guests and 20 000 industry professionals.

The Republic of Tatarstan is represented by a separate booth "Visit Tatarstan" of 30 sq. m, on which officers of the State Committee for Tourism of the Republic of Tatarstan, as well as two tour operators "Persona Grata" and "Travel & Work" work. The representatives of the republic tell about the most attractive routes for Finnish guests and possibilities of travel in Tatarstan.

On April 26th, Belavia Airlines opens direct flights from Minsk to Kazan. Air travelers will have the opportunity to fly from Minsk to Kazan on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, and Sundays at 11:50 PM according to the Moscow time. The return flight from the capital of Tatarstan will take place at 04:30 AM on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays.

The Russian hotel reservation service Tvil.ru determined the cities most popular with tourists in the Volga Federal District (VFD) based on the results of 2017. The rating was prepared according to the data concerning the reservations made in hotels and apartment hotels in 2017.

Kazan, Nizhny Novgorod, Samara, Perm, Ufa, Saratov, Izhevsk, Ulyanovsk, Cheboksary, and Saransk hit the top ten cities of the Volga Federal District popular with tourists.

Kazan, Nizhny Novgorod, Samara, and Saransk will host FIFA World Cup matches in June and July 2018. Kazan, Nizhny Novgorod, and Samara will hold 6 matches of the 2018 World Cup, and Saransk – 4 matches.

According to Tvil.ru, last year, tourists made reservations in Kazan hotels and apartment hotels on average for 4 nights and paid 3.1 thousand rubles per day.

Chairman of the State Committee for Tourism of the Republic of Tatarstan Sergey Ivanov delivered a presentation of the tourism potential of the Republic of Tatarstan at the plenary meeting of the presentation session on the cultural and tourist potential of the cities participating in the 2018 World Cup in Vienna.

It bears reminding that the International Tourism Exhibition Fair Ferien Messe Wien 2018 was opened on January 11th, which runs from January 11th through January 13th.  A thematic section was held today: "Gastronomic brands of the Cities Hosting the World Cup 2018," where Çäkçäk (Chak-Chak) was exhibited as the main gastronomic brand of Tatarstan. A separate stand showing the tourist opportunities of the Republic of Tatarstan is also presented.

The Chistopol State Historical and Architectural and Literature Preserve Museum prepared a new tourist product. This is a unique interactive program called the Merchant Sunday in Chistopol. The first group participated in the program at the New Year's Eve. The guests came from Kazan.

The uniqueness of this program lies in the fact that the guests are invited to live a day in a merchant city with all the relevant attributes – a walk through the historical center, a visit to a temple, a merchant's meal, a visit to a real merchant's mansion, where the masters of the house meet and occupy them

6,500 people visited the Residence of Kysh Babay and Kar Kyzy in the village of Yana Kyrlay of the Arsky region during the New Year holidays. By contrast, during the same period of the last year, this figure was equal to 5,000.

It bears reminding that the Residence of Kysh Babay and Kar Kyzy is located in a fantastic snow fir forest, on the bank of the river Iya, 80 kilometers from the city of Kazan in the village of Yana Kyrlay. A journey to the fairy tale begins with a forest customs, where Shaitan meets the guests and leads them into the dominion of Kysh Babay. The guests will have to get to the house of the same Kysh Babay using the Shurale's map. On their way, the guests will have a lot of adventures – ancient fairy tales, difficult riddles, magic and miracles, as well as fairy tale characters: Shurale is a connoisseur of all the forest roads and paths (similar to the Forest Spirit), friendly and not evil Shaitan (similar to the dickens known as Tchort), merry Ubyly Karchyk (similar to the old witch known as Baba Yaga), ancient Azhdakha (similar to the serpent/dragon known as Zmey Gorynych), strong and brave Batyr (similar to the heroic character known as Bogatyr), beautiful Altynchech (similar to Goldilocks), lovers Takhir and Zukhra (similar to Romeo and Juliet), who will entertain travelers with numerous ordeals.

The residence is open until January 28th.