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Tourism cluster Eastern Sochi to be set up in China

Plans are to organize a tourism cluster for Russian, Chinese and European tourists using the cultural potentials of Russia

BEIJING, June 24 (Itar-Tass) - Tourism cluster Eastern Sochi will be set up in the Chinese city of Sanya (Hainan province), the deputy head of the Rosturizm Russian Federal Tourism Agency, Dmitry Amunts, told reporters on Monday after the Russian Tourism Road Show forum in Beijing.

“I got acquainted with that project at a meeting with representatives from the China Development Bank,” he said, adding that plans are “to organize a tourism cluster for Russian, Chinese and European tourists using the cultural potentials of Russia”. Amunts marked that “the theme park will be organized in line with the architectural style of Sochi, in particular it will have sports facilities as a tourism and recreation cluster cannot exist without health promotion”.

“Chinese friends asked us to recommend modern architects from the Russian Federation who could offer interesting design solutions with due regard for Russian specific nature”. Besides, “the Chinese side asked the Russian delegation to help in recommending cultural activists who would participate in setting up this tourism cluster, and who could then give concerts and organize exhibitions on a regular basis,” he added.

According to Amunts, “there are already concrete ideas, pre-project designs that will lay the foundation of the future cluster”. “I believe painstaking work is in store to study the situation, but in any case this is an interesting project that deserves attention,” he stressed.

He also said that within a month’s time the federal agency will coordinate the structure of the cluster and within the following two months it will draw up a plan of events for translating this idea into life.

He Zhengwei, deputy general secretary of the China Industrial Overseas Development and Planning Association, said for his part that “advice is needed from Russian colleagues as to how to design a park maximally Russian in its spirit”. He noted that “Russia could also build a Chinese theme park that would be associated, for example with Sanya.” “This is where we could help our Russian friends with an advice,” he added.

According to Rosturizm, last year over 1.3 million Russian tourists visited China. Thus China became the third most visited sites for Russian tourists. The number of Chinese tourists visiting Russia last year grew by almost 20 percent, amounting to more than 343,000 people.