On April 23, a gala dinner dedicated to the opening of the week of Karelia, a participant in the Rostourism project "Gastronomic Map of Russia", was held in Moscow in the highest restaurant in Europe, "Ruski". The event was attended by the governor of the region, Artur Parfenchikov, the head of the Rostourism Zarina Doguzova, as well as representatives of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Government of Moscow.
As he emphasized Mr. Parfenchikov, 2020 marks the 100th anniversary of the formation of the Republic of Karelia. "And as part of the preparation for a large-scale celebration of this event, we are actively involved in developing special menus of authentic dishes of our regional cuisine. In this regard, the tools for promoting territories and popularizing regions offered by the federal project "Gastronomic Map of Russia" are especially relevant. The cuisine of the Republic of Karelia fully reflects the geography and climate of the Euro-Arctic region, as well as the great creative potential of the local business community. The state and business will work together to develop gastronomic tourism in Karelia," he said.
In turn Zarina Doguzova noted that gastronomic tourism is an extremely promising segment. "I am very glad that in Russia they have begun to understand that gastronomy can be one of the important aspects in the formation of a tourist product, revealing the tourist potential of a particular region," she said.
It is worth noting that at the moment, interest in trips to the region among Russian tourists is noticeably growing. As a TRN correspondent was told Deputy General Director of TUI Russia Alexander Sirchenko, who also took part in the event, this year the demand for tours to Karelia has already increased by 15%-20%.
"This year, we have taken into account the shortcomings of the previous season. We have new products. In general, at the moment, our line includes about 30 different tourist routes. We have new direct contracts, including with hotels. In addition, this year we are not only supporting the international symphony music festival in the Ruskeala Park, but also, together with the administration of the head of the Republic of Karelia, we are planning to make this a significant tourist event that will be visited not only by Russian, but also by foreign tourists. We are interested in holding such events and really hope that this festival will become the calling card of the region," he said.
We would like to add that a series of presentations of more than 10 regions participating in the federal project “Gastronomic Map of Russia” is planned for 2019, including the Altai Republic, Kaliningrad Region, Krasnodar Region and others.
Source: trn-news.ru
