MPs and Experts Discussed Development of Rural Tourism in CIS Member Nations

Today, the roundtable “Development of Rural Tourism in CIS Member Nations. Challenges and Prospects” took place in St. Petersburg, in the Parliamentary Center of the CIS Interparliamentary Assembly.

The event brought together the MPs from the CIS Member Nations: the Azerbaijan Republic, the Republic of Armenia, the Republic of Belarus, the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Republic of Moldova, the Russian Federation, the Republic of Tajikistan and the Republic of Uzbekistan, as well as the representatives of the CIS Executive Committee, international organizations, educational and scientific institutions and businesses.

The event was moderated by Chairman of the Committee of the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova for Agriculture and Food Industry, Chair of the IPA CIS Permanent Commission on Agrarian Policy, Natural Resources and Ecology Radu Mudreac.

Deputy Head of the IPA CIS Council Secretariat Aleksey Dolzhikov told about the model law-making of the IPA CIS in this field. The organization has already adopted the Model Laws on Ecotourism, on Social Tourism, on Child and Youth Tourism (original and revised), on Basic Principles of CIS Cooperation in the Field of Tourism, etc.

Chair of the Committee of the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan on Science, Education, Culture and Sport, Chair of the IPA CIS Permanent Commission on Culture, Information, Tourism and Sport Erkin Zakhidov addressed the participants with a welcome speech. He noted that the tourism development was one of the most important areas of cooperation during the impending post-COVID period.

Consultant of the Department of Cooperation in the Field of Culture, Sport, Tourism and Youth of the Directorate of Humanitarian Cooperation of the CIS Executive Committee Alexander Dubkovskiy informed the participants on the organizational aspects of the development of cooperation among the CIS countries in the field of rural tourism.

Head of the Laboratory of Geo-ecology and Sustainable Natural Resources Management of the Moscow State Institute of International Relations, member of the Sustainable Tourism Development Committee of the Russian Union of Travel Industry Natalia Ryazanova made a presentation “Relevance and Potential of Inclusion of the Recommendations of the Global Sustainable Tourism Council into CIS Model Legislation on Rural Tourism”.

The CIS and foreign experts also presented the best practices of the development of the agrotourism in the Commonwealth countries and the foreign expertise in the field of rural tourism development.

The work of the roundtable concluded with the adoption of the outcome recommendations, which called on to contribute to establishment and improvement of the relevant legislative framework for creating better system of professional training in this field and proposed to co-organize with the CIS Executive Committee regular meetings with relevant ministries and agencies and other CIS institutions for evaluation of results and prospects of cooperation on the issues of rural tourism development.