There is no place like home

Import substitution in the tourism industry: what has been done in Belarus?

The latest pandemic was a blessing in disguise: last year, due to the closed borders, Belarusian travellers really enjoyed domestic tourism, doubling the statistical indicators of 2020. This season promises to be even brighter: professionals in the tourism and hospitality industry seem to have managed to please even most fastidious clients and offer even more curious alternatives to foreign holidays. Import substitution is not very cheap, but it’s worth it.

The weekend will be busy

One of the trends of the last two years is import substitution in the weekend tours segment. Instead of two or three-day trips to Poland, Lithuania or Ukraine, today travel agencies have a decent package of offers for recreation and excursions within the country.


Now the portfolio of the leading Belarusian tour operator includes more than 150 routes across the country, including 135 one-day and 20 two-day ones. The list of agents includes more than 200 firms. The company states that last year trips around Belarus were in demand, and this demand continues to grow in 2022. Every week, combined groups of tourists start from Minsk on two and a half dozen routes, and this is not counting organised groups. In addition to the one-day ‘classics’, such as Mir, Nesvizh, Belovezhskaya Pushcha, Polotsk, several two-day tours are offered weekly. Spots for some of them were sold out in a week or two, which is an excellent indicator for today.

As follows from the online offer on the operator’s website, one of the hits of spring 2022 is a two-day tour to Grodno with a visit to the Augustow Canal, a stop in Lida and a tour of the Valovichi Palace in Svyatsk. A rich tour programme in the most beautiful city in the country, riding a boat and swimming in the pool, an organ concert and visiting temples of four confessions, an overnight stay in a 3* hotel can replace the voyages to Krakow and Warsaw, which were popular in the pre-COVID-19 period.

There are quite a few weekend tours in Belarus. For example, Brest — Kamenets — Belovezhskaya Pushcha, Polotsk — Vitebsk, Nesvizh — Mir, Vidzy — Opsa — Braslav, relaxation on the lakes of the Naroch area, a tour of the castles of the Brest Region, a weekend in the Miory District with a visit to the Yelnya reserve... The price ranges from 150 to 250 rubles per person. This is inexpensive, considering that the price includes travel, partial meals and payment for excursions included in the mandatory programme.


As for day trips around the country, their real choice from travel agencies has increased significantly over the past couple of years. For 45-90 rubles you get a comfortable trip lasting 10-14 hours with a rich tour programme and lunch.

Healthy recreation

Instead of beach resorts, our people are offered recreation and health improvement activities in sanatoriums surrounded by forests or by the banks of rivers and lakes. Back in March, Gennady Bolbatovsky, Director of the National Centre for Recuperation and Health Resort Treatment, stated that summer vouchers are being actively bought. One can still find places in domestic health resorts a week and a half before the start of the holiday season, but these, as a rule, are not the best options in terms of price/quality ratio. If we are talking about the 15 Belarusian sanatoriums of the highest category (including Radon, Sosny, Rassvet, Lesnoye, Ruzhansky, Priozerny, Pridneprovsky, etc.). It will be possible to book a room there for summer, only if someone refuses the tour. Here we have an analogue of the ‘last-minute travel offers’ in a foreign direction.

There should be no problems with the quality of services. ‘Ultra all inclusive’ with bars and discos around the clock are not, as they say, our method of recuperation, but medical services are always on top. Many health resorts today are ready to meet the increased demand for spa treatments — here’s an extra relaxation for you, which is also beneficial for your health. Sanatoriums do not spare money for improving the material and technical base.

The cost of vouchers, as in the case of foreign hotels, varies depending on the prestige of the holiday destination. In June, the price of one bed (with meals and treatment) ranges from 45 to 545 rubles per day. However, in most health resorts, the average price tag per guest is 70-80 rubles per day.

Cottage with all amenities

The area in which import substitution is not needed at all is agro-tourism, here Belarus, perhaps, has no rivals. The country began to develop this direction a long time ago, many neighbours look up to us. The number of farmsteads reached almost 3,200 by the beginning of this season. Many of the notorious ‘cottage houses’ have long turned into multi-purpose complexes offering not only accommodation, but also various types of recreation: from a gastronomic paradise in the courtyard near a village hut and collecting berries and mushrooms to rafting, horse rides and participation in master classes (baking, making natural cosmetics, etc.). The most advanced owners of estates throughout the region, having joined forces, offer a comprehensive vacation with a diverse programme for several days.
The price range is very large. It varies from 25 to 75 rubles per spot per day. Homestead rental — from $50 for 7-10 people. Prices are indicative and depend on the location, quality of accommodation and infrastructure, as well as on the time of year and days of the week. There is a choice, bargaining is welcome.


Sergei Kovalchuk, Belarus Sports and Tourism Minister, 
“Every year the tourism potential of our country is growing. Many objects have become a brand of Belarus. We are developing agro-tourism, industrial, cultural, ecological tourism and much more. Today, the field of activity for the development of the industry in Belarus is very large: a beautiful country, beautiful nature, kind, sympathetic, hospitable people.”


BY THE WAY
Union + employer = good rest 
The trade union tour operator Belarustourist is one of the active participants in the promotion of domestic tourism in our country. Its structure includes 8 tourist and recreation complexes and the same number of hotels, as well as 17 travel and tour agencies, created and functioning with the support of the Federation of Trade Unions. By the way, it acted as the organiser of the Heritage of Belarus forum, which was held in Minsk at the end of April. The round table conference Tourist Potential of the Republic of Belarus was held there. During this event, Mikhail Orda, Chairman of the Federation of Trade Unions of Belarus, announced an interesting initiative: trade unions should organise tourist and excursion trips for employees of enterprises with the support of employers.
He added, “There are 25,000 primary trade union organisations in our country today. We expect that the forum will become an impetus for further mass and active tourism, travel, excursions. In general, we plan that this year about one million people will travel to interesting historical places in Belarus.” 

By Aleksandr Nesterov
Open source photos