KALININGRAD, December 8. /TASS/. The Rauschen tourist cluster will unite all municipalities of Russia’s westernmost Kaliningrad Region located on the Baltic Sea, deputy head of the regional government Garri Goldman told TASS on Friday.
The new project supported by the Russian Federal Tourism Agency will include all the coastal municipalities, Svetlogorsk, Otradnoye, Zelenogradsk, Pionersky, the gambling zone in Kulikovo, Baltiisk and Yantarny.
"We understand that tourists coming to the Kaliningrad Region for a week, should have a chance to see something new every day," Goldman said. "The cluster currently includes five municipalities, among them are the town of Yantarny with its unique amber factory and Baltiisk, Russia’s westernmost town."
The cluster is named Rauschen after the town of Svetlogorsk, which had this name before World War II.
The state investments in the project (1.4 bln rubles or $23.6 mln) will be used to develop infrastructure. Private investments of some 2.4 bln rubles ($40 mln) will be spent on the construction of hotels.
"Private funds of some 1.7 bln rubles ($28.5 mln) have already been invested in hotels, a mud spa resort and an elevators to the seafront promenade in Svetlogorsk," Goldman said.
He said the promenade in 800-meter Svetlogorsk will be later extended to 1,250 meters. Cafes, restaurants, sports facilities and recreation sites will be centered around the promenade.
"We expected the construction works to be completed by June and the new promenade will be unveiled," the official said.
Svetlogorsk, a popular Baltic Sea resort, currently has more than 30 hotels, guesthouses and sanatoriums with 1,400 rooms to accommodate guests. In summer these facilities are fully booked.
After the launch of the promenade, investors are planning to build a hotel complex of 2,500 rooms, Goldman said.
According to experts, Svetlogorsk is annually visited by 600,000-700,000 tourists. The implementation of the Rauschen cluster project will bring another 75,000 tourists to the resort town every year.
The Rauschen project in Svetlogorsk will be completed by the start of the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
"All the construction works will be suspended during the World Cup," Goldman said.
The cluster projects also envisages the construction of an indoor ski center in the village of Otradnoye, a spa center in Svetlogorsk, an aqua park, a golf field and other tourist facilities.
The cluster will also include an international sea terminal in the town of Pionersky that will receive cruise ships.
The Yantarnaya gambling zone with Sobranie, one of Europe’s largest casinos, and Zelenogradsk with its two-kilometer seafront promenade will also join the project. A marina with a hotel will be built in the village of Trostyanka.