Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Friday called for an improvement in the quality of the domestic tourism industry and urged Russians to spend their holidays within the country's borders.
"I would like to recommend that everybody here...takes their holidays in our homeland," Medvedev said at a meeting of the ruling United Russia party, adding that "our homeland is really big and beautiful."
He gave as an example the U.S., where domestic tourism is common and people "love their big and interesting country."
While Medvedev admitted that the level of the tourist industry in Russia left much to be desired, he also said that, "It is in our power to make conditions for tourists who are not looking for an extreme vacation, but rather a comfortable holiday in our country no worse than in other countries."
An ambitious $15-billion project to create a tourist industry in Russia's volatile North Caucasus, home to Chechnya and Ingushetia, is to be developed by June as a part of the development of Russian tourism.
GORKI, May 28 (RIA Novosti)
