“Once we had no Belarussian money, only Euro, and a taxi driver took us to the station at no charge”. The 35-thousandth tourists’ first impressions of Grodno

Family couple Manvydas and JIvilya Dumky came to a visa-free Hrodna from Lithuania to see the city and relax. Along with historical and cultural tours, foreign guests chose sanatorium “Neman 72” to recover. Lithuanian tourists admit that as they were going to Belarus, they did not expect that they would become honored guests making a new figure – 35000 tourists.

The Lithuanian couple have been planning to visit Hrodna for a long time. Finally, everything matched.

Manvydas Dumchus is in Belarus for the first time and willingly shares his impressions.

– I have already been in all neighboring countries, only Belarus left. I really wanted to get acquainted with the country. Especially now, when it is much easier to do thanks to the visa-free regime. I like the country, people are so warm, sincere, the attitude towards tourists is incredible, they are very responsive. Your old town is very beautiful, streets are cozy. I really want to see the Augustow canal, try traditional Belarusian cuisine. I will advise all my friends to come here and become other thousands of tourists, because it is insanely pleasant!

Here is Manvydas’ wife Jivilya. She has already been in Belarus.

 – I was in Belarus. In Minsk. In Hrodna I am for the first time. Your city is very green, there are a lot of trees and people a little different. When I come to Belarus, I am always in good mood. Once I had no Belarussian money and a taxi driver took me and my friends to the station at no charge. Such episodes leave a good impression about the country. And now there are a lot of positive emotions, we were warmly greeted with gifts. I feel like the President!

By the way, according to statistics, Lithuanians make up the biggest part of tourists in Belarus. The Poles in second position. Experts in the tourism industry characterize Grodno and Grodno region in terms of arithmetic progression in recent months – the number of foreign visitors is constantly increasing. Our multicultural city greets everyone equally hospitably. Sightseeing tours remain popular, but the new trend is medical and health tourism. Tourists, mainly from Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, choose Hrodna clinics for high quality of service, professionalism of doctors and, of course, flexible pricing. A number of medical procedures are much cheaper, than those in Europe and people don’t need to wait in line for months, which is also important for guests.

–During the first half of the year, we welcomed 464 foreign guests in the sanatorium. This figure may not be large compared to the total number, but we are glad that we are contributing to the development of the city and region. With the advent of visa-free regime, the number of foreign tourists has increased. And we think that this figure will continue to grow, – marked Vitaly Voitov, head physician of sanatorium “Neman 72”. Summer is an extremely favorable period for the tourism economy. We will probably meet a new thousandth tourist.

– The number of tourists was not so large before the visa-free regime, – says Victor Soloma, the Deputy Chief of the Department of Education, Sports and Tourism of the Grodno district Executive Committee–Now Grodno and the region have become extremely attractive for guests. The economy is developing. This is even evidenced by the increased number of farmhouses, the figure is approaching a hundred.

“Grodnenskaya Pravda”