70% of Kazan hotel rooms can be booked online

(KZN.RU, April 2, by Taisiya Basharkina) The hotels built for the Universiade will be fully operational after the event. "The upsurge of tourist interest in Kazan in connection with the 2013 international event should be turned into a steady stream" – this was the task Mayor of Kazan Ilsur Metshin set while discussing the new draft program of tourism development over 2012-2013.

Chairman of the Committee for External Relations and Tourism Ivan Kadoshnikov said that nine hotels totaling 917 rooms are due to open for the Universiade in Kazan. Although the number of hotel rooms has doubled, there is still a serious shortage of accommodation for visitors who are expected to attend the Universiade.

Currently, Kazan hotel rooms can be booked through major online services: 70% of the rooms are available on booking.com. Over the past three months, five hotels have been categorized, two of them – The Korston and The Mirage -- having received five stars.

The program also provides for the launching of audio guide tours in Russian, Tatar and English. In most European cities sightseeing buses are equipped with multilingual audio guides.

In addition, Kazan visitor card will be launched. It will offer free admission to several museums, tours, transportation, and discounts at catering facilities, entertainment and shopping centers and taxi. City cards are already available in Amsterdam, Barcelona, London and St. Petersburg.

The program also envisages promotion of such national brands as the Kazan Helicopter Plant, the Rubin football club, Melita and KAMAZ. Ilsur Metshin pointed out the necessity of promoting Kazan together with two holy places: Bulgar and Sviyazhsk. "Our goal is not only to increase the number of visitors to two million a year but also to extend their stay in the capital," he added.