The meeting will take place on 12th of May in Rovaniemi under the chairmanship of the Ministry of Sport, Tourism and Youth Policy of the Russian Federation and Regional Council of Lapland.

The Joint Working Group on Tourism was established with the purpose to extend tourism cooperation in the Barents region through the development of joint tourist programmes and projects. This year the Ministry of Youth Affairs, Sport and Tourism of Arkhangelsk Region joined the group.

At the meeting there will be presented an international project “Public-Private Partnership in Barents Tourism” in which the Arkhangelsk region participates as one of the main Russian partners. The project is aimed at the development of interaction between the regional authorities, tourism business and public organizations from Finland, Norway, Sweden, Arkhangelsk and Murmansk regions, and the increasing of tourist flows within the Barents region.

In April the project application has been sent to the ENPI Kolarctic Programme to get grant co-financing for the implementation of the first phase of the project.

Within the framework of the meeting the Arkhangelsk region will also present an initiative to arrange an International Tourist Forum in Arkhangelsk in May 2011. The Forum will become the first major tourist event in Arkhangelsk which will gather partners from Russia and countries of the Barents region.