Eco Tours – Growing Trend among Foreign Travelers to Primorye

VLADIVOSTOK. March 24. VOSTOK-MEDIA – As the Russian Government shut down all the gambling houses in Primorsky Krai, which had been so popular among torists from Asia and China, tour operators are seeking new ways to attract foreign tourists in Primorye.

This summer eco tours are expected to become a new trend for foreign visitors to Primorsky Krai, a spokesman for a Vladivostok tour operator told Vostok-Media. In august last year, the local tour operators added new routes to their itineraries to islands and nature reserves. In particular tours to Petrov Island, which has remarkably beautiful forests and is washed by crystal clear water, were very popular with Chinese and South Korean tourists last year.

Incidentally, Shao Qiwei, head of Chinas Tourism Administration, noted a stable growth in the outbound tourism in China at the International Tourism Conference which was held last week in Hainan. According to Xinhua news agency, the Chinese travelled abroad 47.65 million times last year.

According to the data from Primorsky Krai International Cooperation Department, in 2009, Chinese tourists travelled to Primorsky Krai more often than tourists from other countries. Last year Primorye was visited by 52,952 tourists from China, 4,935 – from South Korea, 3,496 – from Japan, 2,496 – from the USA, and only 528 tourists from Canada.