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Tatarstan’s inbound tourism to grow by 15-17 percent after Universiade

"The infrastructure was developed to make tourists feel comfortable", a representative of the republic’s Ministry for Youth Affairs, Sport and Tourism said

Photo ITAR-TASS

Photo ITAR-TASS

KAZAN, July 9 (Itar-Tass) - Tatarstan’s inbound tourism is expected to grow by 15-17 percent after the 2013 Summer Universiade in Kazan, a spokeswoman for the republic’s Ministry for Youth Affairs, Sport and Tourism, Yekaterina Barabanova, told a news conference at the Tass club on Tuesday.

“Over the past years Tatarstan has been registering sustainable growth of inbound tourism. In 2012 it grew by 12 percent, in general we received around 2 million tourists. After the Universiade we expect that their number will grow by 15-17 percent in 2013,” she said.

In the run-up to the Universiade much work had been done not only in Kazan, but also in other regions of the republic.

“Aside from sports facilities, many hotels, museums, entertainment centres were built. In one word, the infrastructure was developed to make tourists feel comfortable,” Barabanova said.

She said the focus was placed on cultural programme of the Universiade.

“We wanted to demonstrate that Kazan is not only a city of sports, but also a city of culture. The Universiade’s cultural programme is very rich. There are a beautiful park of the Universiade, theaters, museums and a circus. Of course, all this attracts tourists,” she said.

“In general, the republic’s tourism situation is good. We have rather good rates as compared to those all over Russia. We have two more big events ahead - the World Aquatics Championship and the FIFA World Cup. They will help boost inbound tourism in Tatarstan,” Barabanova said.

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