MMK Recognised for Developing Industrial Tourism
The All-Russian Industrial Tourism Accelerator held in Kaluga has recognised the best enterprises and interdisciplinary regional teams successfully promoting industrial tourism. Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works won in the category 'Best Platform for Sharing Experience in Industrial Tourism'.
Industrial tourism as an independent unit was launched at MMK in 2018. Since then, seven tourist routes have been organised - two for children and five for adults. Two sightseeing routes have received awards from the All-Russian Tourist Award ''Route of the Year''. In addition, five virtual tours of the company's facilities were developed during the period of COVID-19 lockdowns. Tourist safety at the industrial sites is of paramount importance during the tours. In total, since the start of the project, over 19 thousand tourists have visited MMK's facilities.
In recent years, MMK has become one of the main centres of industrial tourism in Russia as well as a platform for sharing experiences and developing this area on a national scale. In 2021, Chelyabinsk and Magnitogorsk hosted the second All-Russian Forum on Development of Industrial Tourism, which brought together leading experts in this field. And recently, the first Russian competence centre for development of industrial tourism opened in Magnitogorsk as a joint project between MMK, the Agency for Strategic Initiatives (ASI) and the government of the Chelyabinsk region. Its main objective is to train specialised tour guides, as well as to create demonstration sites for companies to share their experience and achievements in the field of industrial tourism. MMK's Corporate Personnel Training Centre is already providing training for industrial tourism guides, as well as helping them to learn how to create a safe tour route at an active enterprise.
As part of the All-Russian accelerator, regional strategies for industrial tourism development were presented by interdisciplinary regional teams. According to its results, the Chelyabinsk region team was declared winner in the "Industrial Scale" nomination for the best regional strategy demonstrating the region's industrial potential. The Chelyabinsk region is included in the Industrial Tourism Cluster as one of five pilot regions under the federal programme of the Federal Agency for Tourism. An agreement has been signed between the region and the ASI to develop industrial tourism and five pilot enterprises have been selected to implement the methodological recommendations developed by ASI specialists.
The All-Russian Industrial Tourism Accelerator is a project implemented by the ASI with the support of the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade. The main objectives of the project are to form a positive image of Russian industrial enterprises; to boost loyalty to the quality of Russian products; to increase the number of guided industrial tours available to visitors; and to create regional tourist programmes to increase tourist traffic.