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Number of visitors to Kuril Islands expected at 177,000 by 2040, regional authorities say

Due to the growing number of visitors, the demand for hotel rooms by 2040 will make almost 2,000, regional government's deputy head, Anton Zaitsev stressed

MOSCOW, April 22. /TASS/. The Sakhalin Region's authorities expect the number of tourists visiting the Kuril Islands will grow to 177,000 people a year, the regional government's deputy head, Anton Zaitsev, said.

"In 2035, the number of tourists visiting the Kuril Islands will make 129,500 people, and in 2040 - 177,700," he said at the Corporation for the Development of the Far East and the Arctic.

Due to the growing number of visitors, the demand for hotel rooms by 2040 will make almost 2,000, he added. "Over three years, we have implemented more than 10 projects to build hotel infrastructures and a glamping. <...> Nowadays, however, the demand obviously is above the offer," he said.

"The number of tourists to the [Kuril] Islands was about 56,000 in 2024," the Agency for Strategic Initiatives' Director Olga Zakharova said. "The increase is steady - by about 8% a year."

Earlier, the Sakhalin Region's Governor Valery Limarenko said about 250,000 people visited the region in 2024. The region has become a year-round resort, and every year the number of tourists is growing by 25%.

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