The CIS is looking to unite efforts to develop patriotic tourism, Dmitry Kobitsky, Secretary General - Head of the Secretariat of the Council of the CIS Inter-Parliamentary Assembly, said at a round table in Minsk. The event titled Patriotic Tourism and Cooperation of CIS States in Preserving Memory and Educating Future Generations took place at the Belarusian State Museum of the Great Patriotic War as part of the international Travel Hub Commonwealth forum, BelTA has learned.
Dmitry Kobitsky noted that patriotic tourism is key to preserving shared historical memory and is especially important given attempts to revise World War II outcomes. The field is broad and multifaceted.
According to Dmitry Kobitsky, the CIS plans to develop joint initiatives, create implementation mechanisms, and draft model laws and standards.
“We are obliged to preserve historical memory and subsequently pass it on to future generations,” emphasized the secretary general - head of the Secretariat of the Council of the CIS Inter-Parliamentary Assembly. He added that patriotic tourism is actively developing today, but often remains at the level of individual projects.
The meeting discussed the development of patriotic routes for CIS countries, the use of digital technologies, and cooperation among memorial and museum institutions of the CIS. The goal of the event is to establish an intergovernmental expert-practical framework for the development of patriotic tourism as a tool for preserving historical truth and educating the youth of CIS countries on the basis of a shared historical heritage.
The international tourism forum Travel Hub Commonwealth will conclude on 9 April. For the first time, its program has been integrated with the business agenda of the 4th Belarusian-Russian Tourism Congress. The events are taking place as part of the Big Tourism Week.
The organizer of the forum is the CIS Inter-Parliamentary Assembly. Participants include parliamentarians, heads of relevant agencies and ministries, tourism industry experts, representatives of memorial complexes, international organizations, and the business community. The organizational partner for the section on patriotic tourism is the National Center for Historical Memory under the President of the Russian Federation.