Kamchatka Aims to Raise its Annual Inbound Tourism Figures to 100,000
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During the next three years, Kamchatka Krai plans on raising its annual inbound tourism figures to 100 thousand people, reports the region’s press service.
“In order to do that, we need to expand the region’s tourism capabilities not only for summer, but for winter as well. Also, we need to pay special attention to developing domestic tourism and attracting tourists from Russian regions. We have business partners among the countries of the Pacific Rim, the most notable of which is China. We also maintain traditionally firm ties with Japan and Korea. This is our priority in developing foreign tourism,” says Head of Tourism and Foreign Relations Office of Kamchatka Krai Gevork Shkhiyan.
He also said that in 2014 Kamchatka Krai expects 13 thousand foreign and 22 thousand Russian tourists.
The issue of transport still hampers the development of tourism in the region, seeing how it takes up 70% of the price of a tour package.
“The absence of competition on the market of flights from Russia’s central regions to Kamchatka Krai, as well as its limitedness due to the krai’s thin population and the seasonal nature of the flights, is the main reason for the high tariffs. Currently, it is impossible to change the prices,” says Konstantin Britsky, Representative of the Ministry of Transport and Road Building of Kamchatka Krai.
The expert also pointed out that Kamchatka’s travel companies had the opportunity to negotiate the purchase of blocks of seats from carriers (Aeroflot, Transaero, VIM Airlines) at the rates that both travel companies and carriers found adequate. In order to put all necessary deals in place, a collective address of the Tourism Office and Ministry of Transport to the management of the airlines has been mooted, the result of which will be a contract on the advance purchase of tickets for 2015.
The region’s government is also considering lowering ticket prices for domestic tourists.
According to the information TRN magazine got from Pioner-Tur, active tours to Kamchatka are enjoying the biggest demand.
“There definitely exists interest in Kamchatka as a tourist destination, and it is gradually growing, but this growth is much too slow. The main issue that currently stymies the development of the destination is the expensive ticket prices. The year before there were many special offers, along with special ticket sales, but his year airlines do not provide any discounts at all,” they said in the company.
The minimum price of a tour to Kamchatka, air ticket price included, is currently about 80 thousand rubles ($2,311). The state of the region’s tourist infrastructure, however, fails to live up to the tour’s price tag.
Pioner-Tur also said that trips to Kamchatka were popular among young and middle-aged people, as well as among senior citizens.
Last year the region was visited by about 22 thousand travelers from different corners of Russia and by 11,359 foreign tourists. In 2013, 14 cruise ships called at Kamchatka’s ports, carrying passengers from the US, Japan, Germany, the UK, Australia and France.
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