IRKUTSK, July 12. /TASS/. Russia’s Agriculture Ministry will be working throughout 2023 to draft a set of agricultural tourism standards to provide a clear picture of best practices for farmers and other rural enterprises to follow in hosting agritourists, First Deputy Minister Oksana Lut said on Wednesday.

"Since last year agritourism has appeared as a new measure [of support for the farm sector]. Many regions are enthusiastic about it and farming enterprises are making active use of it. Nevertheless, we lack a set of established standards, and so everyone is working at cross purposes, everybody has their own vision [of how agritourism should work]. And, as of now, we also have our own vision. Accordingly, we need to somehow mold this vision into shape to have an understanding of what the farmer’s role should be within the tourism framework, and what approaches a farmer should take as a [provider] of tourism as an auxiliary service to his [primary] business largely catering to urban residents, so that city people get an idea of what it’s like to live in the country, in a village, and to [see for themselves] how it’s an interesting and appetizing [way of life]," Lut elaborated.

Russia introduced agritourism grants in 2022. The maximum grant amount is 10 mln rubles (equal to $110,700). Support is available for small agricultural enterprises to develop agritourism projects.