Siberian Altai Regions to Develop Rural Tourism and Casinos
The French Tourism Institute will help Russia’s Altai region (Altai Krai) to develop a rural tourism, Russian news agency ITAR-TASS reports.
A memorandum of understanding was signed earlier this week between the authorities of Siberian Altai region and the Paris-based Tourism Institute during Moscow’s annual tourism fair Intourmarket 2011.
“French professionals are ready to share their knowledge of industry. The institute experienced productive cooperation with China’s Anhui Province, where together with local authorities they preserves ancestorial forms of life, community customs, and rural architecture,” Altai region official said to the news agency.
He also added that Altai region can easily provide international tourists with all kind of rural tourism activity, including fishing, hunting, mushrooming and picking wild berries.
Almost US$146,000 has been allocated for the rural tourism development from the regional budget last year, which allowed for additional private investments into the industry.
The ultimate plan for the Altai Gaming Zone is to establish 15 casinos, 10 entertainment centers, and 30 hotels that can accommodate up to 3,000 visitors.
Last year, Slovenia’s Hit Company and Hong Kong casino tycoon Albert Yeung, were reported to announce their intention to cooperate with Siberian Coin.
The first Soviet Union casino was open in the late 1980s in Moscow’s Savoy Hotel for only foreign nationals. The first casino for Russian citizens was launched in 1991.
By the end of 2000, Moscow had over 200 casinos, over 2,100 slot machine parlors, and over 35,000 slot machines in country regions. Ethnic Russians make up 57.4 percent of the population while 30.6 percent are Altai ethnicity and about 7 percent are Kazakhs.
(Via Russia Briefing)