MOSCOW, March 25. /ITAR-TASS/. Big festivals, forums and exhibitions should help attract Russian travellers to Crimea, the spokeswoman of the Russian Federal Agency for Tourism (Rostourism), Irina Shchegolkova, told Itar-Tass on Friday.

Shchegolkova said on March 24, the agency hosted the first meeting of an interagency working group established to develop the health resort infrastructure in Crimea and the city of Sevastopol in 2014. Rostourism Deputy Head Dmitry Amunts led the meeting that gathered representatives of Russia’s ministries - the Health Ministry, the Labor Ministry, the Ministry of Regional Development, the Ministry of Economic Development, the Sports Ministry, the Ministry of Education and Science, the Communications Ministry - as well as the Russian Social Insurance Fund and the Association of Tour Operators of Russia.

“Participants in the meeting discussed the proposed high priority measures to develop Crimea’s health resort infrastructure this year,” Shchegolkova said, adding that the agencies were tasked to prepare until April 28 their proposals for tourism development in the region.

“A road map will be created on the basis of the proposals to support Crimea’s health resort complex in the summer period,” she said.

“It is important now that we work together to determine those actions that will help make Crimea more attractive for tourists,” Shchegolkova said. “Rostourism will also formulate certain measures, which include, among other things, our proposals to organise big newsworthy events like festivals, forums and exhibitions in the republic to attract tourists, as well as our proposals to include Crimea in the federal target programme for development of domestic and inbound tourism.”

According to official data, about six million tourists travel to the Crimean Black Sea coast annually. Market operators estimate that about two million of them are Russians. Crimea’s resort and tourism sector has 825 institutions, including 151 sanatoriums and spa resorts, 224 health resorts and 92 resorts for children.