By Vlada Karnitskaya: Belarus’ tourism industry has won silver in the Agro Tourism category in a contest organised by the National Geographic Traveler magazine. Belarus has joined the top 10 countries planned to be visited by Russian tourists on New Year's Eve.
One of the most popular destinations to celebrate New Year’s Eve abroad among the Belarusians is Egypt. Staying in a four-star hotel for eleven days, including on 31 December, currently costs from 650 dollars per person, with departure from Minsk. In the second place are the United Arab Emirates. Prices for a seven-day tour with departure from Minsk begin from 1,000 dollars. The third most popular destination is Goa. Spending five-seven days there would cost about 1,500 dollars for two people. New Year bus tours also enjoy popularity.
According to official ratings, Minsk is the top New Year’s Eve destination for Russian tourists, along with Italy, the Czech Republic, Germany, Spain, Finland, Poland, Thailand, Austria and Latvia. Staying in Minsk costs about 52 dollars a day, while overseas vacations would cost them twice as much. Belarusian travel companies account for such a situation, and many have even created special tours for tourists from the neighboring country. In addition, they offer services in arranging trips to Turkey for Russian citizens with departure from Minsk.
Such destinations as Sham El-Sheikh are no longer available even for the Belarusians as the airline company Belavia has recently stopped operating flights to this city due to the fact that the demand for this destination has decreased considerably.
