OREANDA-NEWS. August 1, 2008.  Mr Medvedev noted that tourism is one of the fastest-growing economic sectors and provides jobs for more than a million people. The President called for efforts to stimulate development of domestic tourism, including through the possibility of discounts for students and pensioners. 

Mr Medvedev said that the tourism sector’s insufficient development is largely due to lack of money in municipal budgets and difficulties with the transfer of assets to municipalities and allocation of land for building hotels and other tourism infrastructure. The President proposed in particular reexamining the division of powers between the federal, regional and municipal authorities in the tourism sector.

Mr Medvedev visited the main sights of Uglich, one of Yaroslavl Region’s oldest towns, in particular the historical sites at the Uglich Kremlin.

The President visited the town’s main cathedral, the Cathedral of the Transfiguration of the Saviour, built in 1706 on the site of ancient churches, and viewed an exhibition of icons from the fifteenth-eighteenth centuries. He also spoke with local residents and tourists during a walk around the town.