US embassy cable - 05MINSK1079

UNCLAS MINSK 001079 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, PINR, PREL, BO 
SUBJECT: Would You Go on Holiday in Belarus? 
 
1.  (U) Summary: President Lukashenko decided this year 
that tourism in Belarus must increase, and the GOB issued a 
number of new laws to ensure that it does.  Lukashenko also 
wants stricter enforcement of hunting legislation.  Agro 
and eco tourism are slowly taking off in rural regions, but 
those involved are cautious of a lack of legal regulation. 
End Summary. 
 
New Regulations, Fewer Tourism Agencies 
--------------------------------------- 
 
2.  (U) One of Lukashenko's new ideas is to attract more 
foreign tourists and to "encourage" Belarusians to travel 
in Belarus rather than abroad.  In April, he noted that 
eight times more Belarusians travel abroad than tourists 
come to Belarus, a ratio that is disadvantageous to the 
economy.  Therefore, on June 29, the House of 
Representatives passed the National Tourism Development 
Program for 2006-2010, aimed at increasing inbound tourism 
revenues 30 times to USD 377.2 million (from a current USD 
21.5 million) and the number of tourists visiting Belarus 
from the current 67,500 a year to 114,300 a year.  The 
program focuses on the development of tourist 
infrastructure, especially on agricultural, environmental, 
transit and water tourism. 
 
3.  (U) In February, the Ministry of Sports and Tourism 
(MST) introduced obligatory certification for licensed 
tourism agencies operating in Belarus.  All agencies must 
obtain certification from the National Tourism Agency (NTA) 
or the State Institute for Standardization and 
Certification by January 1, 2006 or risk fines and the 
suspension of their licenses.  The two-week certification 
process costs tourism agencies between USD 140 and 370 
each, and involves certification agents inspecting tourist 
agencies' offices, staff competency and compliance with 
paperwork requirements.  The MST plans to introduce similar 
requirements for tour guides to ensure that they "cultivate 
patriotic feelings in Belarus' residents."  According to 
Sergei Dorinin of the MST, only those agencies who support 
the authorities' initiatives and promote Belarusian tourism 
will be allowed to operate in Belarus. 
 
4.  (U) As of July 1, tourist agencies must comply with new 
licensing provisions regulating inbound tourism services, 
including arranging tours to Belarus for foreign tourists 
and having an incoming tourism contract with a foreign 
partner.  Violations of licensing regulations include 
provision of services without contracts, activity by 
branches of a travel agent not listed in the license, and 
insufficient inbound tourism services.  All agencies must 
provide their tourism statistics to the MST within six 
months of obtaining a license.  In accordance with these 
new rules, agencies had to amend their licenses by 
September 1.  On September 6, the MST reported that it 
revoked the licenses of 179 of 700 tourist agencies for 
failure to complete the amendment process. 
 
5.  (SBU) Valeria Klitsunova, chairwoman of the Association 
of Agro and Ecotourism, recently criticized government 
policies regulating the tourist industry in a meeting with 
poloffs.  The NTA says that there are no incoming tourist 
minimums, but on July 8, Klitsunova noted that ten percent 
of agencies' business must now come from foreign tourists. 
She said that even though the GOB wants to control and 
boost tourism, it is unwilling to invest to promote tourism 
and frequently passes laws without consulting experts. 
Klitsunova pointed out that visa regulations and border 
crossings must be simplified before more tourists will come 
from abroad.  She considers every foreign national in 
Belarus to be a tourist because they spend money in the 
service sector, whereas the GOB counts only those who come 
on tourist visas. 
 
Hunting 
------- 
 
6.  (U) Hunting in Belarus is not strictly regulated, and, 
according to the website of national tour operator 
Belintourist, there is no limit on the quantity of game for 
foreign tourists or the number of guns and ammunition that 
tourists can bring into Belarus.  The website advertises 
the chance to kill elk, deer, boars, wolves, red foxes, 
hares and many types of bird.  Prices vary based on killing 
or wounding the animal, on the animal's gender, age and 
size, as well as on if tourists kill the animal by ambush, 
in an enclosure or on approach, and on if it is mating 
season.  [Note: hunting rates can be found at 
http://www.belintourist.by/www.belintourist.b y/tours_en.pht 
ml,8,,x23Ftopic=2hunting] 
 
7.  (U) On July 22, Lukashenko declared that punishment for 
poaching offences should be as tough as possible and 
announced that, "all those who take a carbine, a gun, an 
automatic weapon or a rifle, run to the forest and shoot 
indiscriminately at anything that moves, killing not only 
animals but also people, will be held fully accountable". 
On August 2, he dismissed chiefs of the Audit Department 
and of the Wildlife Preserves and Nature Management 
Department and the deputy chief of the Presidential 
Property Department for failing to stop hunting violations 
at Braslav National Park.  Former director of the park Petr 
Karnitski faces criminal charges for leaving the hunting 
and fishing seasons open all year and not charging visitors 
for services.  Lukashenko fired Director of Polesse 
Radiological Reserve Petr Politatyev for similar reasons. 
 
Agrotourism 
----------- 
 
8.  (SBU) Klitsunova described Lukashenko's latest pet 
project for the tourism industry: agrotourism.  Her 
organization works with people in small villages who wish 
to operate bed and breakfast type facilities for tourists, 
providing produce from their gardens.  As people already 
own the home, agro tourism involves little investment risk 
and is beneficial to everyone involved.  Many hosts offer 
guests typical Belarusian experiences, such as berry- 
picking, mushroom collecting, touring local historical 
sites or even skinning rabbits and killing pigs.  The 
problem with encouraging these small businesses is the lack 
of legislation on agrotourism.  Klitsunova suggested making 
a simple, straightforward set of laws to protect the 
homeowners.  For example, if people rent out less than five 
rooms in their home, they should not have to pay taxes on 
the income.  If they rent out more, they should register as 
a business.  She admitted that the service industry is 
poor, there is little promotion or advertising, and the 
tricky legal system discourages involvement in tourism. 
[Note: the UNDP recently looked into rural tourism in 
Belarus and plans to publish a booklet listing all 
agrotourism estates.  The UNDP also intends to organize 
training sessions in Poland and the Czech Republic for 
Belarusian landowners interested in agrotourism.  See 
septel for a more detailed assessment of agrotourism.] 
 
Ecotourism 
---------- 
 
9.  (SBU) On August 4, Dr. Valentin Yatsukhna, head of the 
landscape ecology lab of the geography faculty at the 
Belarusian State University, described ecotourism in the 
national parks and lakes regions to poloff.  Dr. 
Yatsukhna's team is preparing a proposal for the future 
development of the Braslav National Park in northern 
Belarus.  The proposal focuses on the development of 
ecologically friendly tourism within recreational zones, 
including paths and tours to disperse tourists throughout 
the park, instead of concentrating all activity on a 
central point.  Yatsukhna described three bus tours that 
show tourists historical monuments in addition to lakes, 
forests and marshlands.  If the MST approves these plans, 
the team will provide printed materials in Russian and 
English to National Park staff and train guides to give the 
tours. 
 
10.  (SBU) Yatsukhna stressed the importance of avoiding 
the industrialization of the region, arguing that large 
hotels negatively impact the environment and that small 
guesthouses are better.  He hopes to model development on 
American examples of this and other ecologically friendly 
tourist activities that he observed on a recent USG- 
sponsored tour of U.S. national parks. 
Comment 
------- 
 
11.  (SBU) Forcing already registered and licensed 
companies to become certified, at a sizeable cost, is 
simply another example of government pressure on private 
business and provides a perfect opportunity for the GOB to 
close privately owned tourist agencies.  Belarus' abundant 
and relatively untrampled nature does provide considerable 
tourism potential, especially for city-weary Europeans. 
However, that potential will remain unrealized as long as 
the service industry is minimally developed; Belarus is 
famous internationally only for its reputation as Europe's 
last dictatorship, and the cost and hassle of visas and 
transport is high. 
 
PHLIPOT