Eco-Tourism Expands To Russia’s Far East
During January 18-30, 2005, USAID’s Enhanced Small and Medium Enterprise Development (ESD) Project led a team of six company representatives from Russian Far East (RFE) eco-tourism companies located in the cities of Khabarovsk, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Vladivostok and Yakutsk, to Chicago to attend the International Travel Show, considered one of the largest such travel shows in the world. Courtesy of USAID funding, and based on cost-sharing, these RFE companies were able to display their regions as potential eco-tourism destinations to show attendees and develop tourism contacts for establishing new travel networks within Europe and the United States. Promoting the Russian Far East as a destination for eco-tourism is fairly new in the United States, and has already received favorable attention. In fact, American travel companies are now considering an estimated $300,000 worth of contracts to RFE locations. Rainbow Lodge Point (Alaska/Oregon) is among those interested in expanding its offerings and is currently researching the viability of Kamchatka as a sport fishing destination.
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| A Russian exhibitor at Chicago ’s International Travel Show |
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