Turkish investors have shown interest in developing a tourism cluster in Russia's North Caucasus, Itar-Tass reported.
The press service of the North Caucasus Resorts or KSK state company told Itar-Tass on Saturday that KSK's executives had met representatives of the Koray Holding, a Turkish construction conglomerate in Moscow to discuss prospects of cooperation on the project of creation of a tourist cluster in the North Caucasus and in southern Russia.
The Turkish delegation said that the project had definite advantages, including an all-year-round operation of all tourist and recreation facilities.
The North Caucasus Resorts company clarified that more detailed plans of future cooperation would be defined after a series of Koray's consultations with partners.
The Koray Holding specializes in construction, reconstruction, development and project management. The holding carries out projects in the territories of Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Azerbaijan, Russia and other countries. Koray-built facilities cover an area of more than 3 million square meter in Turkey and about 523,000 square meters in other countries.
Levent Demirel, the deputy general director for promotion of tourist products at the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism, was the first to speak about Ankara's readiness to cooperate with Russia in the field of creating a tourist cluster in the North Caucasus.
"Our Ministry is ready to invest in this project. However, our investors need to be explained how their Russian colleagues work and how their activities are organized. If conditions are created for the Turkish business, it's ready to invest in projects in the territory of Russia," Demirel said.
"North Caucasus could be interesting for our investors because it's a dynamically developing region. Both Russian and Turkish investors could benefit from cooperation in this region," the Turkish tourist official went on to say.
Demirel emphasized that Russia was a big country with rich culture and natural heritage. He expressed the hope that Turkish investors would be able to increase their presence and activity in the Russian tourist market.
"The Russian economy is a growing economy and it holds out a good prospect. If Russia manages to tell about its tourist capacities efficiently, then tourist flows may grow," Demirel said.
Turkish tourist revenues are estimated at 25 billion dollars, of which about 4 billion dollars are received from Russian tourists. The Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism says that 31. 5 million foreign tourists, of whom 3.5 million were from Russia, visited Turkey last year.
Earlier, the North Caucasus Resorts Company presented its project of creating a tourist cluster in southern Russia at the East Mediterranean International Trade and Tourism (EMITT) exhibition.
By 2020, the North Caucasus Resorts will build new world-class Alpine skiing resorts in the region: Lagonaki ( the Krasnodar territory, Adygeya); Arkhyz, the Karachai-Cherkess Republic, Elbrus-Bezengi in Kabardino-Balkaria, Mamison in North Ossetia, Matlas in Dagestan; Tsori and Armkhi, the Republic of Ingushetia as well as beach resorts on the Caspian Sea coast in Dagestan.
The North Caucasian cluster will accept 5-10 million vacationers a year.