Preparations for Travel Hub Commonwealth Forum Discussed in Minsk

The forum will take place on 7-9 April 2026, as part of the Belarusian Tourism Week. Itwill be integrated with the IV Belarus-Russia Tourism Congress and the 28^th International Tourism Services Exhibition-Fair "OTDYKH-2026" (eng. Holiday-2026).

Head of the Congress Activities Department of the IPA CIS Council Secretariat Yulia Zaikovaand Head of the Organizational Department of the IPA CIS Council Secretariat Diana Survilaite held a series of working meetings in Minsk to discuss preparations for the event.

The organization of the Travel Hub "Commonwealth" forum was discussed at the headquarters of the CIS Executive Committee with the participation of Deputy director of the National Tourism Agency of the Republic of Belarus for core activities - head of the marketing and relations department Anastasia Semashko Chair of the Republican Union of Tourism Industry PhilipHuly, Head of the Department for Cooperation in Culture, Sports, Tourism and Youth at the CIS Executive Committee Tatyana Kovaleva and Representative of the IPA CIS to the CIS Executive Committee Viktor Kogut .

Preparations were also reviewed at the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus in the context of inter-parliamentary cooperation. The meeting was attended by Head of the International Relations Department of the Secretariat of the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus AndrewTarandaand representatives of relevant committees. It was noted that Travel Hub "Commonwealth" will complement the congress program with sessions on active, rural, and eco-tourism.

Patriotic tourism will be one of the key topics. Following a meeting with representative of the Department of Culture and Folk Art of the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Belarus Nadezhda Avdeyand Director of the Belarusian State Museum of the History of the Great Patriotic War Vladimir Voropaev, it was decided to hold a round table on patriotic tourism at the museum's venue.

The Secretariat's representatives also held negotiations with potential partners at the BelExpo exhibition center. Belarusian representatives have been actively participating in the forum's activities from the outset of the project, sharing expertise in eco- and rural tourism, digitalization, regulatory development, and cross-border routes.