ULAN-UDE, March 23 (Itar-Tass) — The delegation of Buryatia will participate in the first Russian-Chinese forum on cooperation in the sphere of tourism within the framework of the Year of Russian Tourism in China that is opening in Beijing on Friday. The press service of the republic’s government told Itar-Tass that the “representatives of Buryatia will hold in China a presentation of the investment and recreational potential of the Baikalskaya Gavan (Baikal Harbour) tourism zone and a series of talks with the Chinese business community.”

The Baikal Harbour special federal tourism zone is being formed in five areas of the eastern shore of the lake with the total area of ··700 square kilometres and has become one of the most dynamic in terms of the development pace in Russia. More than three billion roubles from the budgets of all levels have already been allocated for its creation. The construction of the engineering and transport infrastructure of the first stage of the Turka and Peski tourism zones is coming to an end. Twelve residents there are designing hotels that will receive the first tourists in 2013. From 2016, Buryatia intends to receive annually at least 1.8 million tourists. The number of tourists in Buryatia has already reached 530 thousand per year.

Among the potential residents of Baikal Harbour there are also Chinese companies that are considering the possibility of investing in the tourism zone up to 20 billion roubles. One of the areas of the tourism zone – the all-season Gora Bychya (Bull Mountain) ski resort with 29 downhill courses with the total length of 40 kilometres - is oriented for the flow of tourists from China with the daily arrival of up to 1.8 thousand visitors.

The investment agreement on the construction of the resort worth 1 billion US dollars was signed between Buryatia, Vnesheconombank (VEB), the Special Economic Zones joint stock company and the Rusresorts company at the Sochi-2010 Forum.