Russian Leaders, Investors to Discuss Tourism Development Plans

Russian Leaders, Investors to Discuss Tourism Development Plans
By James Ruggia

Foreign investors will join Russian political and commercial elite in the southern seaside resort town of Sochi at a high-profile government economic conference to sign the first large-scale international agreements toward development of a sustainable tourism industry in the North Caucasus, an unspoiled alpine region.

Against the backdrop of the 10th Annual Sochi International Investment Forum, the first ground-breaking deals involving French, Korean and German companies are scheduled to be inked, providing impetus for the stream of international investment that will be required to implement this $15 billion development project.

Russian President Dmitri Medvedev announced plans earlier this year to build a constellation of varied resorts spanning the several republics of the North Caucasus from the Black Sea coast across to the shores of the Caspian, some 600 miles to the southeast. The federal government has committed to develop leisure and ecotourism sites in strictest accordance with international ecological standards.

The Sochi Forum, which is to be attended by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, is expected to attract unprecedented international interest from companies also eyeing opportunities associated with the 2014 Winter Olympic Games, which are set to take place 24 miles away in the Western Caucasus.

The gathering will feature speakers from Russian and international environmental groups such as the All-Russia Society for Nature Protection, founded in 1924, and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF); experts on ecological policy in the European Alpine nations; federal and regional government officials; and representatives from SC OlympStroi, the state corporation responsible for construction of the Winter Games' sites, and from state-run OJSC Northern Caucasus Resorts Company (NCRC), the overall coordinator for development of the North Caucasus system of tourist complexes, which is to include the largest skiing resort project in the world.

Besides Lagonaki and Mamison, there are also plans to develop mountain resorts at Matlas in the Republic of Dagestan and Arkhyz, known as the “pearl of the North Caucasus,” in the Republic of Karachay-Cherkessia. A fifth resort is planned for Mount Elbrus, in Karachay-Cherkessia and Kabardino-Balkaria, near the Russian border with Georgia. At 5,642 meters in elevation, Elbrus is the tallest mountain in all of Europe.

Sport and nature enthusiasts are expected to visit the resorts from Russia and surrounding countries and from Western Europe and the Mideast starting in 2014. The new regional tourist industry, which will provide 200,000 new jobs, is expected to attract up to 5 million visitors a year.