Ladder to the sky: Kazan asks for equipment to save people from skyscrapers
Tourism of Kazan made friends with Paris
Last year Kazan easily managed to attract 16% more tourists than in 2015. But functionaries are not going to stop at the level of 2,5 million people. This year they are going to raise the bar by 10-15%. Meanwhile, the Civil Protection Administration of the Executive Committee of Kazan reports that the number of the deceased was reduced even if the number of fires grew. They noted that topical issues remained important on the agenda. A correspondent of Realnoe Vremya found out what issues they were.
''Lack of equipment to save people from high buildings is a topical issue''
Head of the Executive committee of Kazan Denis Kalinkin started the next meeting of the city administration with the mentioning of Maslow's pyramid. So he led to head of the Civil Protection Administration of the Executive Committee of Kazan Ferdinand Timurkhanov's speech about the results of work in 2016.
''As it is known, a person needs protection and safety, it is on the second place after the basic physiological needs,'' Kalinkin noted, and the speaker took the floor.
In 2016, the amount of fires in Kazan increased by 7,7% compared to the previous year. At the same time, the number of the deceased reduced by 36%. 143 people in total were saved from fire.
After the meeting, answering a question of Realnoe Vremya's correspondent, Timurkhanov told that the absence of equipment to save people from high buildings was the problem. Nowadays the service is able to save a person only from the 18 th floor.
''Lack of equipment to save people from high buildings is a topical issue. Look at Lazurnye Nebesa, Suvar Plaza and others,'' the head of the administration replied.
According to him, at least one vehicle of this kind is needed for Kazan. He did not name the exact price for the vehicle but noted that it was quite expensive.
''The question was raised. We discussed it with investors. They say there is no evacuation problem according to technical conditions. We will work on the issue,'' Timurkhanov commented to Realnoe Vremya's correspondent.
Among other problems, the speaker mentioned difficulties in cooperation with private entrepreneurs who not always understand the importance of safety control in facilities.
2,5m tourists and a course for a 10-15% growth
Another report was about the results of work on reception of tourists. Last year Kazan hosted 2,5 million guests and increased the indicator of 2015 by 16% (2,1 million people). Director of the Tourism Development Assistance Committee of Kazan Daria Sannikova told this year they are going to augment the number by betting on the Confederations Cup and other newsworthy events. The tourist traffic is forecasted to grow at least 10-15% in 2017.
Last year tourists spent 3,5 days in Tatarstan on average. Visits to the Kazan Kremlin grew the most having hosted 2,8m tourists, which is 37% more than in 2015. Kazan Riviera was visited by 850,000 people, Kazan Family Centre's observation site – 110,000 people, and over 300,000 people walked on the Kremlin Embankment only during the New Year holiday. But the occupancy of hotels in 2016 was not so high – only 58%. The greatest load was on holidays in May and January when the indicator reached 90%.
In general, forecasts for the number of tourists during the New Year holiday were not true. Only 110,000 tourists visited the republic against last year's 130,000. The press service of the State Committee for Tourism of Tatarstan made the information public. It turned out the data on attendance of the State Committee for Tourism and the Tourism Development Assistance Committee of Kazan was different. According to Sannikova, over 133,000 people visited the capital of the republic during the holiday.
''In 2017, the traffic has grown by 3% in comparison with last year. If last year there were 133,000 tourists, this year their number increased by 3%,'' the speaker told.
The committee is going to participate in different international exhibitions in Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, London and Berlin and continue working on the organisation of newsworthy events in Kazan to maintain the indicators at the high level.
Kazan made friends with Paris
The committee moved forward to promote tourism and signed an agreement between Kazan and Paris in December 2016. Daria Sannikova called the agreement unprecedented because no city in the world has such an agreement with the capital of France. It is about an exchange of cultural experience and experience in organisation of sports events.
''It is clear that fashion, movable street theatres are famous spheres of France. These events made and still make France and Paris famous throughout the world. We are going to organise events in these spheres. Of course, we have the Tatar cuisine, and they have French cuisine,'' the director of the Tourism Development Assistance Committee of Kazan told.
Now they plan to hold Sabantuy in Paris in 2017. The journalists were promised to give more accurate information about the artists and dates.
This is not the end. Agreements are to be signed with Barcelona and Milano whose city administrations the committee is having negotiations with. The foreigners are interested in the experience in organisation of sports events and Kazan – experience in attraction of tourists.
In addition, Chinese tourists are being actively attracted to the capital of Tatarstan. Kazan is advertised on tourism portals of Guangzhou in Chinese.
''We are also creating press tour routes. We will cover cities within a 500-km radius and go to present the city with our tourism potential to attract tourists,'' Sannikova said in answer to Realnoe Vremya's question.
It should be remembered that Kazan started to welcome centralised tourist flows from China in August last year. As head of the State Committee for Tourism of Tatarstan Sergey Ivanov told our newspaper later, direct flights to the Celestial Kingdom are due to start again in May 2017.