Augustow Canal Draws 17,000 Visa-free Tourists from 60 Nations

(Source: Travel Weekly China)

Poland's famous recreation park, Augustow Canal has attracted as much as 17,000 visa-free travellers from 60 countries ever since the Decree No. 318 came into effect, according to Oleg Andreichik who is the head of the sports and tourism office of the Grodno Oblast Executive Committee.

He had mentioned this at the meeting of the interagency coordinating council on tourism at Belarus's Council of Ministers on 1st June, as learnt by the BelTA.

Oleg Andreichik has asserted that nearly 17,000 tourists from 60 countries have leveraged this opportunity to arrive at the Augustow Canal recreation park ever since 26th October, 2016. He went on to add that the number is estimated to reach 50,000 by the year-end 2017.

About 64 travel agencies currently provide services in the area of Augustow Canal.

This number used to stand at 11. A total of 431 people have utilized the Lesnaya-Rudawka border checkpoint that had been once opened for pedestrian and cycling tourists in pilot mode on 28th April, 2017.

As per the Grodno Oblast Executive Committee's resolution number 170 passed on 8th April, 2016, a plan of action has been approved with an aim to promote the tourism aspects of the recreation park Augustow Canal in the period 2016 to 2020. Andreichik specified that plans have been made to establish 30 tourist routes, create 25 farmsteads and other accommodation facilities by the year 2020.

He has added that they are quite ambitious and are hopeful that they would be able to attract 100,000 tourists annually and renovate over 30 kilometres of roads.