Makhachkala, November 3, 2015. The tourist product of Dagestan season - 2016 has been presented at the "Open Crimea" Forum held October 29-30 in Alushta, Crimea. The forum was organized by the Ministry of Resorts and Tourism of the Republic of Crimea with support of the Chamber of Commerce of Crimea. The forum program envisaged holding an exhibition on tourism development issues and a series of round tables on the problems of business, culture, education, public health, fitness and sport tourism.

The forum participants participated in business meetings, a conference “IT-technologies: a modern tool to promote sales”, a series of training seminars on "Marketing of tourist products" in the form of a training program "Hospitality and loyalty – basis for mutually beneficial relationships", etc.

More than 150 representatives of tour operators from the Russian Federation and CIS countries confirmed their participation in the Forum. Forum had been preceded by information and sightseeing tours across the resort and tourist sites of the Crimea. Thematic round tables for each area of tourism with participation of the representatives of tour operators from regions of Russia and CIS countries and the local tourist community continued the work of the Forum in an offline mode in the Park Hotel Porto Mare.

In experts’ opinion, the Forum has become an open platform for dialogue among the tourist industry representatives and governmental bodies. The forum highlighted the opportunities for tourism in the Republic of Dagestan too.

Dagestan proposed the forum participants to visit the major places of interest in Dagestan: the Caspian Sea, Samur forest, Eolian town in the vicinity of the village Koog in Khivsky District, Sarykum dune, Sulak Canyon, Gunib plateau, Yarydag, Shalbuzdag, Bazarduzu, Dagestan Karadahskaya gorge, wildlife sanctuaries and nature reserves, natural mineral springs, healing mud and much more.

But the main attraction for the tourists, in common opinion, is Dagestani people, their customs and traditions, hospitality, culture and languages, poets, writers, artists, craftsmen and attitude towards women and children.

“Today, tourism - not only a kind of business, this is a mean to supplement the budget of the region and to invest in the infrastructure development. With it, we can shape a positive public opinion about our country and the region, informing the world about everything positive that is happening in Russia, the Northern Caucasus and Dagestan” - the Head of the Republic of Dagestan Ramazan Abdulatipov attached great importance to the development of the tourism industry, which, in his opinion, is one of the factors for the sustainable development of economy and social sphere in the republic.