Tatarstan President: The Volga Federal District has unique resources for the development of cruise tourism

On October 4, at the Kazan City Hall, speaking at a meeting held by Presidential Plenipotentiary Envoy to the Volga Federal District Igor Komarov of the Council under Presidential Plenipotentiary Envoy to the Volga Federal District on the development of internal and inbound tourism, Tatarstan President Rustam Minnikhanov, who is a co-chair of the Council working group, said that the Volga Federal District has unique resources for the development of cruise tourism, adding that every year more than 500,000 people make cruise and suburban trips in the district.

Minnikhanov emphasized that cruise tourism is a growing market segment in the world now. However, the development of cruise tourism in the Volga Federal District is restrained by a number of factors. The first thing is the outdated fleet of cruise vessels and the unsatisfactory pace of its renewal. “Passenger vessels were built back in the Soviet period. The average term of their operation is 43 years in our district,” Tatarstan President stated.

He noted that the construction of new cruise passenger vessels is underway in the Volga Federal District, including a suburban passenger vessel of the Chaika (Seagull) project at the Zelenodolsk Shipyard,  as well as the Zolotoye Koltso (the Golden Ring) passanger vessel and a vessel of the Valdai project in the Nizhny Novgorod region. On the 11th of September this year, the Krasnoye Sormovo plant in Nizhny Novgorod launched the Mustai Karim cruise vessel of the river-sea navigation class. However, according to Minnikhanov, this vessel is planned to be operated not on the middle Volga, but on the Moscow - St. Petersburg section.

“River-sea class ships are fundamentally new vessels that can connect the regions of the district with the countries of the Caspian, Azov, Black and Baltic Seas with a single cruise route. This is an important area of the Tourism Development Strategy in the Russian Federation until 2035,” Tatarstan President continued.

Minnikhanov also said that the cost of building new cruise and suburban vessels ranges from 100 million to 2.5 billion roubles in Russia . Tatarstan President noted that the extremely high cost is economically unattractive for private investors because of the long payback and short navigation periods. “In this regard, it is necessary to consider the possibility of increasing the size of the vessel recycling grant and the maximum period of preferential leasing for the construction of cruise passenger vessels,”  Minnikhanov suggested.

The infrastructural restrictions of inland waterways is the second factor holding back the development of cruise tourism in the Volga Federal District. According to Minnikhanov, the construction of the Nizhny Novgorod low-pressure hydroelectric facility is currently underway in the district. The implementation of the project will ensure stable shipping and increase carrying capacity on an important section.

The periodically low water level in the Volga reservoirs is another industry problem. Minnikhanov noted that this leads to the reduced number of vessel calls to the main tourist centres of the district, and also has a negative effect on the spawning of fish and on the development of another type of tourism – fishing accordingly.