Tourists to be surprised by glamping, festivals and medieval tournaments in Tatarstan
Local routes, guaranteed cashback
The Tatarstan State Committee for Tourism is expecting a lot of tourists who will visit Kazan and other renowned tourist landmarks of the republic this summer. Head of the committee Sergey Ivanov traditionally didn’t make forecasts but specified that the occupancy rate in Kazan hotels was good and the job would be summarised at the end of the year. According to him, about 150,000 citizens of other regions of the country spent 10 days of May holidays in Kazan. So Ivanov says that tourists and visitors come to the republic’s capital mainly from Moscow and Saint Petersburg, then the list includes residents of Nizhny Novgorod, Samara, Penza and other cities and Volga regions.
Various tourist programmes and types of recreation await those who will decide to spend a holiday or weekend in Tatarstan. Like previously, the programme 1001 Delights in a Weekend in Tatarstan will be in force, 10 districts of the republic participate in it: Spass, Chistopol, Yelabuga, Mamadysh, Saba, Kamskoye Ustye, Rybnaya Sloboda, Arsk, Kukmor. Alexeyevsk District has joined them for the first time.
The republic’s district can host about 530 people per weekend at the same time. The terms of the programme and the price of the tour haven’t changed — 2,200 rubles per person, the price includes an excursion, meals and accommodation.
The chairman of the state committee urged the citizens of the republic to travel inside the region and go to neighbouring regions and noted that they could receive cashback in a special programme for this type of holiday. However, if Mir card is used for payment and the trip will take at least two nights (3 days), then a tourist can get 20% of the travel costs back, but no more than 20,000 rubles. Cashback can be received for accommodation in hotels (if they have stars), in Tatarstan health resorts, for excursions, cruises in the Volga River, holiday in children’s camps. Also, Tatarstan residents are given a chance of covering the Great Volga Route, which unites a series of destinations in 14 regions of Volga Federal District.
In addition, there will be six glamping sites for 200 beds in the republic, another 14 sites in eco-friendly locations will open till the end of the year. The open-air holiday suits every pocket: a night per person will cost from 2 to 13,000 rubles depending on the status of the site. Visitors can go to vineyards, a tasting event, ride horses, sail boats, yachts.
Iconic historical sightseeing points of Tatarstan wait for influx of tourists
Sergey Ivanov also said that the airport of Kazan was expanding the map of flights: one can go to nine cities of the country from the Tatarstan capital via a local airline for quite a symbolic price, since the flights are subsidised: Kemerovo, Omsk, Nizhny Novgorod, Yaroslavl, Makhachkala, Barnaul, Samara, Perm and Petrozavodsk. The ticket price is from 2,250 to 6,000 rubles. New routes — to Murmansk and Arkhangelsk — have appeared too. International flights have opened — people can travel from Kazan to the capitals of Belarus, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, fly to the UAE, Egypt or Cyprus.
Of course, key historical sightseeing points of Tatarstan — the island town of Sviyazhsk, Bolgar museum-reserve, Yelabuga and the Kazan Kremlin — are waiting for a big influx of guests. Here, tourists will see a lot of festivals and different cultural programmes during the three months. For instance, a church music festival will take place in Sviyazhsk on 12 June, the island town will host Sviyazhsk Workshop theatre laboratory in July. In Bolgar, the anniversary of the adoption of Islam by Volga Bulgaria will be celebrated on 5 June, and Aga Bazaar new ethnic festival will be here in July, in August, spectators can see the legendary medieval combat festival.
Yelabuga is waiting for tourists at the 14th Spass Fair and the Russian Bell Ringing Festival, which are scheduled for 6-8 August. The city’s museums will host various expositions whose exhibits come from different Russian museums, from Tambov, Ivanovo and others. A total of 30 routes for excursions will operate in Yelabuga District this summer.
Does Kazan have everything?
As for Kazan, the tourism committee of the city administration prepared extensive holiday programmes to suit all tastes: historical excursions with professional guides, various festivals — gastronomic, music, Sabantuy, cruises. So on 19 June, Kazan will gather fans of breakdance for a Russian tournament, and a jeans culture festival will open on 3 July together with a dance flash mob, a jeans exhibition, Assa film will be shown and a meeting with actor and member of Kino band Sergey Bugayev.
Yummy Kazan traditional gastronomic festival will be the biggest event. In late July, people who like riding bicycles are expected at BicycleNight, the organisers haven’t yet chosen the route and the exact day.
As head of the Kazan Committee for Tourism Development Daria Sannikova noted: “We all have missed events and I hope all our plans will become a reality, Kazan has everything for a great holiday.”
The Kazan Kremlin, a point of attraction for all tourists and guests coming to the capital of Tatarstan, doesn’t stand clear of novelties. New exhibitions, festivals await its visitors, while more than 600 certified guides will work on the territory, thanks to one of the routes, people can see Kremlin walls and towers too. Now the landmark is getting ready to host Fanfares of Kazan festival among concert bands, 19 groups of the Russian Ministry of Defence, Russian National Guard and others have already agreed to participate in it.
At the end of the briefing, Chairman of the State Committee for Tourism Sergey Ivanov added that one could get information about all excursions, events, dates and sites and much more in a Telegram bot @anyquestionrt_bot, which was deliberately created for tourists.