The first meeting of the International Council for Sustainable Tourism Development was held on the sidelines of the IV Forum of Russian Regions “Development of Tourism Infrastructure” in Moscow. It united industry unions and associations of the tourism industry of Russia, Belarus, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Azerbaijan.

In the future, it is planned that industry associations and leading tourism organizations of the Middle East, Southeast Asia, Africa and South America will join the International Council.

The moderator of the meeting was the coordinator of the International Council for Sustainable Tourism Development, First Vice President of the National Union of the Hospitality Industry, Head of the International Analytical Center for Sustainable Tourism Development of RUDN University, Christophor Konstantinidi.

The general director of the Business Center for Economic Development of the CIS Vadim Ganin addressed the members of the International Council with a welcoming speech: “Today, tourism can become the driving force behind the development of the entire Commonwealth, a link between the priorities of state policy and the cultural needs of society, the commercial interests of various business areas in our countries. Non-governmental platforms, such as the International Council for Sustainable Development,” Ganin said.

More than 30 members of the Council from 5 countries took part in the work of the International Council for Sustainable Tourism Development. The meeting participants discussed issues of international cooperation and public-private partnership, the formation of cross-border tourism products, solving problems of aviation support for international tourism, the participation of the tourism business in training qualified personnel for the tourism industry, exchanging experience in the field of sustainable tourism standards, developing payment instruments, and creating an international tourist route “Wine Roads of the CIS”.

The Director of the Russian Convention Bureau Sagid Zaremukov put forward an initiative to create a specialized committee on business and event tourism on the basis of the International Council, which will include representatives of the convention bureau, tourism structures and federal executive bodies responsible for congress and exhibition activities and event tourism at the country level. This will create a platform for mutually beneficial working relations based on interstate cooperation and integration.

The final document of the International Council meeting will be a comprehensive action plan aimed at solving the problems of cross-border tourism integration. It is planned to organize joint work on training personnel for the tourism industry in a network format with the participation of the tourism industry and universities of the CIS member states on the basis of RUDN.