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- Checking connections: a single portal with information about guides and hotels will appear in Russia
Checking connections: a single portal with information about guides and hotels will appear in Russia
A new unified digital platform in the field of tourism, which is being developed by the Ministry of Economic Development, will unite all registers of this industry. These are lists of tour operators, guides, certified beaches, classified trails, routes, and accommodations. This was announced at the International Tourism Forum "Travel!" by Deputy Minister of Economic Development Dmitry Vakhrukov. The measure will help tourists to verify the quality of the services provided and their compliance with safety requirements. And for businesses, the platform will have analytical data that will help develop a growth and development strategy. About what else will be on the portal and why it will not become a "state booking service" — in the Izvestia article.
Modern ways of settlement
The Unified Digital Tourism Platform (UTSP), which the Russian president instructed the government to create in May 2024, will begin operating at the end of this year, and the introduction of its services will be phased in, the press service of the Ministry of Economic Development told Izvestia.
The platform will become a set of digital solutions and principles aimed at the development of tourism, Dmitry Vakhrukov, Deputy Minister of Economic Development, explained at a parliamentary hearing. They were held as part of the "Travel!" forum (held in Moscow on June 10-15).
— And all the services that we implement within the framework of a single digital platform and that will appear this year and next should contribute to the emergence of new industry participants, new travel products and new digital solutions. We are making information more accessible, creating more opportunities for the market to grow," he promised.
In particular, the platform will help to increase the transparency of the industry. Currently, the Ministry of Economic Development maintains registers of hotels, travel agents, tour operators, guides and instructors, classified beaches, trails and other objects of the tourism industry. But they have not yet become services, the deputy head of the department stressed. Their reorganization into digital services will be carried out on this platform.
— We want these registries to become digital and accessible, — Dmitry Vakhrukov explained. — In fact, the hotel registry confirms their compliance with the minimum requirements. This is what will protect both tourists and all other market participants who have direct contact with tourists today. The same applies to other registries — those who have confirmed their worth to the state get there.
Thus, each tourist will be able to check whether, for example, the operator from whom he ordered the service is in the registry.
"This will increase the level of trust between tourists and the industry," the deputy minister said.
The updated National Tourism Portal will become the central part of the platform (its new version should also be operational by the end of this year). It will contain a calendar of events, routes, and travel ideas.
It is also planned to place a service for checking into hotels using biometrics and QR codes.
— These are modern ways of settlement, which are becoming available today, — said the Deputy Minister. — In addition, the service will be used to exchange information with the Ministry of Internal Affairs, as requested by the industry, for migration registration of tourists. It is also planned to establish a digital exchange with lists of visa-free guests on the platform, that is, to organize visa-free tourist trips, which we currently have with China and Iran.
According to a source in the department, it is planned that tourist groups will be formed using the platform, and these lists will be transmitted electronically to border posts.
What the platform will give to the business
Representatives of the tourism industry should have access to the so-called "analytical dashboard," Dmitry Vakhrukov said. He explained that when designing the platform, various data and indicators were used, which are available to the ministry "in terms of the development of state policy."
— Developing this idea, we realized that this dashboard is needed not only by us, the market also has a request for government analytics, confirmed figures, processing data from Rosstat and digital registers, different dynamics sections, regional, federal, — he explained. — We believe that we need to create a dashboard in that part of the data in which they can be publicly displayed and available on the national tourism portal.
Thus, he said, less powerful industry participants, who may be just starting their activities and are ready for active development, will be able to plan the development of their business.
Valery Korneev, Chairman of the Digital World Platform Users Union, expressed concern that such a travel platform could become a competitor to existing commercial services and "would damage not only them, but also domestic tourism."
—Our proposal is to reformat this platform into a database," he said. — There is relevant experience in the financial industry, where a special state database has been created, which has been providing borrower verification services for several years. It could be used by all aggregators and all market participants. This will be useful for both the state and the market.
Dmitry Vakhrukov assured that the services that will be created on a single digital platform "should not duplicate the existing ones."
— We are not going to make any kind of government booking, nor a booking platform, not to create competition for anyone, not to create a service on the state part of the platform when the process of exchanging money for a service directly arises. We're definitely not coming here.
And deputy Nikolai Novichok (former deputy head of the abolished Federal Tourism Agency) recalled that the State Duma in June 2025 adopted a law on the creation of a National multifunctional service.
— This is an application that will combine the functions of a messenger and service delivery services. The question arises: why can't this service provide travel services? The answer is that it can and most likely will. It will have special state protection and integrate with "Public Services". Probably, it can be one of the tourist platforms," the parliamentarian said.
However, MP Sergei Boyarsky assured Izvestia that this service would not be a competitor to business, but rather would stimulate the development of public-private partnerships in this area.
"The ECB should not create competition for private digital platforms and services," the press service of the Ministry of Economic Development said in response to a request from Izvestia. "On the contrary, the ECP aims to enable developers of mobile and web applications to use data from official registries, analytical materials, and official information posted on the national portal to create their own solutions and bring them to the consumer market."
Alexander Bragin, Director of the Association of Travel Aggregators (ATAG), noted that for the full functioning of the industry, it is necessary to take into account its features in the draft law "On the Platform Economy" that is currently being developed.
— Currently, the legislation does not take into account that the activities of travel aggregators are more complicated than those of marketplaces that operate under the "supplier, platform, buyer and pick—up point" system, - said Alexander Bragin.
As an example, he mentioned that the bill imposes on travel agents the obligation to develop and monitor standards for the provision of services by individuals who may be listed as guides, owners of guest houses and apartments, which is physically impossible. According to him, there will also be problems with foreign suppliers — it is difficult to authenticate them in Russian government services. In addition, it is difficult to monitor the quality standards of services provided abroad.
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