How Visa-Free Foreigners Increased Minsk Budget By 35%
BelTA / BelarusFeed
8 January 2018, 15:41
The revenues from tourist services to the budget of Minsk increased by 35% after the introduction of Belarus visa-free regime in January last year.
No wonder Minsk is one of the cheapest European cities!
“The introduction of a visa-free regime for five days for citizens of eighty states has already borne fruit.
More than eighty thousand foreign citizens, primarily from Western Europe, visited Belarus,”
There is 35% increase in revenues to the budget from tourism, hotel services, health services, recreation and so on, “ Minister of Foreign Affairs Vladimir Make said.
According to the minister, the introduction of visa-free travel stimulated foreigners to visit such regions as the Augustow Canal and Belovezhskaya Pushcha.
At the same time, Vladimir Makei acknowledged some violations of the visa-free regime but called them insignificant.
“I think it is worth it all and the decision to introduce a visa-free regime was absolutely justified and weighed.
Visa-free tourism positively affects the situation in the country, this is why we should not stop at what we have achieved,” the minister concluded.
Nonetheless, the officials plan to further simplify the visa-free regime, next steps will be discussed at a meeting with President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko this month.
Recall that starting 1 January the visa-free travel time for foreign citizens was expanded up to ten days in several areas of Brest Oblast and Grodno Oblast.
Moreover, there is a possibility that foreigners may be allowed to stay in Belarus without visas for 90 days, Vladimir Makei said in an interview a month ago.
BelarusFeed jointly with TUT.BY tried to answer the most puzzling questions about the visa-free enter, stay and travel in these regions.
8 January 2018, 15:41
No wonder Minsk is one of the cheapest European cities!
“The introduction of a visa-free regime for five days for citizens of eighty states has already borne fruit.
More than eighty thousand foreign citizens, primarily from Western Europe, visited Belarus,”
There is 35% increase in revenues to the budget from tourism, hotel services, health services, recreation and so on, “ Minister of Foreign Affairs Vladimir Make said.
According to the minister, the introduction of visa-free travel stimulated foreigners to visit such regions as the Augustow Canal and Belovezhskaya Pushcha.
At the same time, Vladimir Makei acknowledged some violations of the visa-free regime but called them insignificant.
“I think it is worth it all and the decision to introduce a visa-free regime was absolutely justified and weighed.
Visa-free tourism positively affects the situation in the country, this is why we should not stop at what we have achieved,” the minister concluded.
Nonetheless, the officials plan to further simplify the visa-free regime, next steps will be discussed at a meeting with President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko this month.
Recall that starting 1 January the visa-free travel time for foreign citizens was expanded up to ten days in several areas of Brest Oblast and Grodno Oblast.
Moreover, there is a possibility that foreigners may be allowed to stay in Belarus without visas for 90 days, Vladimir Makei said in an interview a month ago.
BelarusFeed jointly with TUT.BY tried to answer the most puzzling questions about the visa-free enter, stay and travel in these regions.
