Over 6 mln tourists vacation at Russian ski resorts in 2024 winter season
MOSCOW. May 30 (Interfax) - Six million people vacationed at Russian ski resorts during this year's winter season, which is up 15% year-on-year, deputy chair of the Association of Ski Resorts, Territories and Services board Svetlana Danilina said.
"In total, there are 400 ski complexes in Russia, of which 150 are large and medium-sized. The flow of ski tourists rose 15% to six million in the 2023-2024 season. Around 3%-4% of the population visits ski resorts. This is very low for a country like Russia, where mountains account for 40% of the territory. For comparison, there are 17% of skiers in Austria. We still have a long way to go to reach such figures. And the goal is to increase the number of slopes and the number of skiers," she said during the discussion on ski tourism problems at a strategic session organized by the Russian Union of Travel Industry.
Danilina added that the growing number of tourists on the existing slopes might lead to the problem of overloading resorts. "We understand what will happen to our complexes in this case. Our slopes are already overcrowded at certain times, for example, during the New Year holidays," she said.
Danilina identified subsidized leasing for the purchase of Russian-made ski equipment and preferential lending for the purchase of foreign goods, as well as zero VAT for the transportation of passengers using cable cars among factors which could promote the development of ski tourism. Experts named restrictions on building work on the lands of the forest fund as another important problem obstructing the development of ski tourism. As a rule, ski centers are located outside cities, and investors face a situation where they cannot build some of the facilities because they are designated for the lands of the forest fund.
Director of the Russian Economic Development Ministry's Department for Implementation of Tourism Projects Vladimir Trach said that his agency has drafted a bill permitting the construction and reconstruction of ski resorts on forest-land plots. The bill is expected to be submitted to the State Duma in the spring session. The document proposes authorizing the felling of protective forests with their subsequent revival, which will permit the use of a large number of new plots for developing ski tourism.
Trach noted that the government is allocating one billion rubles for developing ski resorts in Russia. The funding will be used to support the program of preferential lending to specialized investors. Funds will be available to projects aimed at attracting at least 500,000 visitors per year, and this target should be achieved within two years from the date of commissioning the facility.
The session also focused on expanding the training of instructors. According to the National League of Instructors, 5,000 instructors and 400 coaches work at ski resorts during the skiing season. It is imperative to elaborate clearer parameters of personnel training for the ski recreation industry, as well as to popularize and raise the prestige of the profession, General Director of the League Olga Darguzhas said.