MOSCOW, July 3. /TASS/. The Sakhalin Region and tour operators are developing an international tourism product that will combine sightseeing programs and medical services, the Sakhalin Tourist Information Center's leader Viktoria Stupina told TASS.

"The Sakhalin Region together with tour operators is developing an international tourism product that will combine a sightseeing part and medical components. That is, for example, a tourist will be able to receive a Jetlag infusion (a procedure for a rapid recovery after long flights to cope with jet lag - TASS). So, having received this service, a visitor can continue enjoying fully the beauty of Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands," she said on sidelines of the Second Forum of Women of the North.

The region is offering a wide range of medical products at existing facilities, she continued. "Right now, we, as a working group, are forming up a single window model for medical tourists to speed up and improve the service quality. It will work the following way: a tourist arrives, receives tour services, medical recommendations, possibly a check-up or other medical service. Different options are available. In the future, we will offer an opportunity to perform surgery with subsequent rehabilitation enforced by the region's therapeutic climate," she explained.

A big climatic resort

The region is known for balneology resources: mineral water to any taste, peloid therapy, thermal springs, mountain air, sunbathing, and much more, she continued.

Sakhalin plans to develop sanatorium-resort treatment in the region, she continued. "We have chosen a slogan "the region is big climatic resort." It is not that this is some kind of separate territory or sanatorium, we don't have such a thing, but since we are a small region, an island region, that is, in fact, geographically separated from the mainland, this is why we have such an image of a climatic resort," she said.

She also noted that the idea of developing health tourism in Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands is of high demand among locals and tourists. "We can clearly see a demand for a high-quality service and a combination of classical tourism with a medical component. We are different from international destinations since we are inside the country, tourists do not have to travel, plus it's a new destination, there are no crowds of tourists, everything is fairly dosed. This summer we are already developing a tourism product of the kind, and we will see, will test it on the first group of tourists, will receive the first feedback, and will work further on," she said, adding that plans for the future are to find directions for cooperation with countries of the Asia-Pacific Region and to attract foreign tourists.

The Second Forum of Women of the North - "The North Unites: the Role of Women in Strengthening Unity of the Peoples of Russia" - ran from June 30 to July 1 at the Rossiya National Center. The event's organizers are the Federation Council and the Ministry for Development of the Far East and Arctic, supported by Russia's Association of Indigenous and Small Peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East.