Transnistria decided to regain its former tourist glory
Foreigners have flocked to Transnistria, a region untouched by mass tourism.
In the clumsy state machine, which had never been closely involved in the tourism industry, something creaked and clanked, and things slowly began to move forward.
During Soviet times, popular tourist routes of Union significance passed here, and the republic decided to return to its former glory. The creation of a modern tourism industry, the formation of an attractive image of the republic and the promotion of the Pridnestrovian tourism product are among the priorities of the state. An entire chapter of the Development Strategy of the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic for 2019–2026 is devoted to this.
During the early stages of his presidency, the head of the PMR, Vadim Krasnoselsky, liked to repeat to journalists about the need to “break through the information vacuum.” “Use any search engine for images of Transnistria. And what will you see? Flags, maps, armored personnel carriers, walls with bullet marks. But we need pictures of sights, natural beauties, buildings and cozy streets of cities and villages,” he said.
The campaign to promote a recognizable and positive image of the republic, to which the non-state sector has also joined, is yielding first results - there are more foreign tourists, and this is noticeable.
Foreigners are interested in several points in Transnistria.
Firstly, these are all kinds of symbols of the Soviet era, preserved in large numbers - monuments, houses in which revolutionaries lived, streets named after them, museum exhibitions dedicated to the pioneers, the Komsomol and the achievements of the national economy during the USSR period. The state flag of the PMR is a copy of the flag of Soviet Moldova, the coat of arms is taken from the same place - with minor changes. Many abroad consider Transnistria to be the last stronghold of the USSR. This, of course, is not so - the republic is trying, as best it can, to build a market economy. However, here they do not fight with the past and believe: what happened was.
Secondly, foreigners want to know what it is - an unrecognized country that has borders, an army, money, a banking system, but which is not on the map.
Thirdly, guests are interested in local industrial enterprises that produce original, high-quality products. Some plants and factories have been preserved from Soviet times, some were created recently. The list of must-see Pridnestrovian enterprises includes the legendary Tiraspol wine and cognac factory KVINT, which, in addition to finished products, offers a wide excursion program with visits to rural grape plantations, grape processing shops and wine tasting, the giant textile concern "Tirotex", the sturgeon complex "Aquatir" ", a number of other productions.
Fourthly, tourists are attracted by attractions that have appeared or been recreated recently. Parks, public gardens, architectural landmarks, and historical monuments are being improved using public funds and investors' money. One of the most attractive objects is the restored Bendery Fortress. Built by the Turks in the mid-2008th century as a stronghold in the fight against Russia, the fortress later became a symbol of the glory of Russian weapons. Since XNUMX, systematic reconstruction has been carried out here, and a year ago a complex was opened that united the fortress itself and Alexander Nevsky Park. The result is a gigantic cultural platform where weekly festivals, concerts, fairs and even knightly battles are held, attracting fans of event tourism from abroad. And although some local historians call the completed medieval fortress a “remake” and a “caramel cake,” believing that the majestic ruins looked better and more natural, the number of visits to the fortress has increased several times in two years. Staff guides say that both foreigners and local residents began to actively visit the fortress. The growing popularity of the tourist site is associated with its renovation, a rich program of cultural events, and the wide dissemination of information about the fortress.
Finally, the multinational culture of Transnistria with its rich gastronomic and wine-making traditions, as well as the natural and archeological monuments of Transnistria - Scythian mounds, springs of healing mineral waters, protected forests and picturesque landscapes along the Dniester, are of interest. Right now a tourist route is being created in the Kolkotova Balka conservation area - this is a geological section of the soil where the remains of animals of the Pleistocene era were found some time ago.
It is not difficult for tourists to get to Transnistria - at the border you need to go through a simple registration procedure. Lately, more and more foreigners have learned that there hasn’t been any shooting here for a long time. Only peacekeeping posts along the Dniester remind of the Moldovan-Transnistrian armed conflict of 1992. Russian blue helmets, by the way, are also a kind of attraction; at least, guests from the Russian Federation, as a rule, are delighted with her.
Who exactly comes to Transnistria from abroad most often is clearly visible in the center of Tiraspol and at the branded stores of the KVINT plant (foreigners really like that a bottle of decent cognac, for example, can be bought for less than ten dollars). These are mainly tourists from EU countries.
Since 2017, a non-state Tourist Information Center has been operating in Transnistria, which advises tourists, supports tourism service providers in the PMR and cooperates with authorities on the development of the republic’s tourism potential. According to the center, the most frequent guests in Pridnestrovie are from Great Britain, Poland, Germany, Spain, and the USA. The ubiquitous Chinese are also discovering the unrecognized republic. Several thousand people from fifty countries located on five continents have already used the center’s services. At the same time, about 80% of foreigners enter the PMR from Moldova. It is Moldovan travel agencies that service many local routes - the tourist product for excursion groups organized in Chisinau usually includes only a one-day trip to Transnistria, including, say, a visit to the Bendery fortress, the KVINT plant and monuments to Lenin.
At the same time, there are more and more foreigners traveling independently who stay in Transnistria for several days, using the services of local hotels, restaurants, shops and carrier companies.
There are still problems with the tourism infrastructure. There is a lack of information signs and stands, Wi-Fi in public places, and even basic amenities such as public toilets.
The state program “Support and development of tourism in the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic for 2019-2016”, adopted this year, is designed to improve the infrastructure, the total cost of which is 17,1 million rubles (about 1 million US dollars). As part of this program, the state intends to create not only infrastructure, but also the tourism product itself as a whole, conduct a broad information campaign within Transnistria and beyond, combining the efforts of the state and private providers of tourism services.
The specialized education provided by the Pridnestrovian State University in accordance with Russian educational standards should also help the matter. This year, the main university of the republic hosted the first graduation of masters in the field of Tourism, specialists in the field of development and management of tourism activities.
On October 10-11, the International Investment Economic Forum was held in Pridnestrovie, at which the prospects for the development of the tourism industry were discussed. Foreign experts noted that the republic has great potential in this area, but it will have to work hard - to engage in marketing, branding of the entire Transnistria and individual tourist destinations, promoting tourism products at international exhibitions.
Deputy Minister of Economic Development Natalya Sitkina, ksatati, reported that the development of the tourism brand of Pridnestrovie is being carried out by foreign specialists and is already at the final stage.
When the state program was adopted, it was said about 8 thousand foreign tourists who visited the republic over the past year. It is expected that after the creation of a national tourism brand, a website about Pridnestrovie for tourists, the popularization of tourist routes and the “promotion” of local tourism products abroad, the arrival of tourists to the republic will become more intense and their number will reach 100 thousand in 2026.
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