Meeting with senior officials of Council of Ministers

Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko held a meeting with the Council of Ministers' leadership in Minsk on 18 August.

One of the key topics addressed during the meeting with the president was the reorganization of tourism sector management. The Council of Ministers has drafted a decree proposing to transfer regulatory authority in tourism from the Sport and Tourism Ministry to the National Tourism Agency. Furthermore, the Agency would be directly subordinated to the government. The head of state convened a meeting with the Council of Ministers' leadership to discuss the proposed restructuring.

Aleksandr Lukashenko asked why the current regulator has failed to manage the sector effectively and what tangible changes the proposed decree (still unsigned) would bring.

"What concrete mechanisms will ensure these goals? How exactly will this give Belarusian tourism a new development boost?" the head of state asked the government.

The president reiterated that the government has been tasked with developing tourism into a flagship national project and maximizing its economic impact during the next five-year cycle. “Belarus, as we well know, holds tremendous tourism appeal. But interest alone isn’t enough. We must convert potential into tangible economic gains. The current situation as reflected in media reports shows zero hotel vacancy nationwide. Tourism operators are operating at absolute capacity. Even if we wanted to handle more visitors, it’s physically impossible” Aleksandr Lukashenko stated. “So that we could handle more visitors, First Deputy Prime Minister Nikolai Snopkov and others propose establishing a new ministry, as I’ve mentioned earlier,” he added.