OREANDA-NEWS. On the invitation of Head of Karelia a delegation of French experts in tourism arrived in the republic. On July 1 in the Government of the republic they had a meeting with Alexander Khudilainen.

The French delegation will work in Karelia for 4 days. The main purpose of the visit is to provide an independent estimation of prospects of development of the branch of tourism in our republic. Experts will visit Petrozavodsk, the region of Lake Ladoga coast, Pryazha and Medvezhiegorsk regions, Alpine skiing resorts under construction, as well as world famous islands of Kizhi and Valaam.

Alexander Khudilainen welcomed the French guests, having wished them fruitful work, and has stated confidence that they would be able to estimate prospects of tourist complex's becoming in the region at its true worth. According to Head of the republic, Karelia is traditionally one the three leaders in the rating of popular tourist regions of Russia, keeping the first place on prospects in the field of active kinds of tourism. Annually the republic is visited by 1,7 million tourists of whom only 560000 were organized tourists.

- If we create proper infrastructure the flow of tourists will grow, too, the number of jobs and the volume of taxes will increase, - Head of the republic has told.

The long-term target program Development of Tourism in the Republic of Karelia in 2012-2015 was adopted in the republic last year, and the State Committee of the Republic of Karelia for Tourism was founded in June within the reformation of the structure of the Government.

Today in Karelia there are about 4,5 thousand places worth seeing by guests of the region. Winter kinds of sports among which sled dog competitions have a special place have started to develop in recent time. Projects in the field of development of Alpine skiing resorts are implemented. Last winter the Alpine skiing complex was commissioned in Spasskaya Guba. A new Alpine skiing resort Yalgora near Petrozavodsk will open soon.

- We hope that on results of the visit you will be able to make a cold evaluation of the condition of the tourist industry in Karelia and to elaborate practical recommendations on development of this branch in our region, - Alexander Khudilainen addressed to French experts.

Head of the delegation Georges Morizot, Chief Executive Officer of International Caucasus Development joint enterprise, has promised to make assessment of prospects of tourism development in Karelia during the visit to the republic, as well as to state strong directions which could promote development of tourism.

According to Valery Kiryanov, Chairman of the State Committee of the Republic of Karelia for Tourism, recommendations of the French experts will help in mobilization of investments in Karelia. Independent estimation of the recognized experts of the branch will be used to defend Karelia's projects in the Federal Tourism Agency and the Ministry of Culture of Russia.