Industrial tourism in St. Petersburg is gaining popularity

Industrial tourism in St. Petersburg is becoming increasingly popular. This was stated by experts from the Agency for Strategic Initiatives of Russia (ASI) after visiting urban industrial facilities.

They visited the largest enterprises: Power Machines, the world leader in the power engineering industry, Kingisepp Machine-Building Plant, an enterprise of the Russian military-industrial complex, Armalit, a leading manufacturer of pipeline valves, Yusta 3PL, professional storage services, Kartontol, waste paper recycling, Petrovsky College – production workshops.

Almost 30 St. Petersburg companies have completed the accelerator program of the Agency for Strategic Initiatives (ASI). As Nana Gvichia, deputy chairman of the tourism development committee, told Vedomosti, the condition for participation in the accelerator is an inspection visit. The tour is conducted with the participation of experts and mentors with visits to pilot enterprises for testing, evaluating excursion services and formulating recommendations for finalizing excursions and routes.

“Training lasts six months. At the end, a meeting of enterprises with tour operators is held. After completing the program, the number of tourist visits increases by at least 15–30%,” Gvichia noted. According to her, interested enterprises are beginning to look for suitable formats for organizing excursions, thus, work is underway to be included in the register of industrial tourism.

The Association of Industrial Tourism North-West noted that about 35 St. Petersburg enterprises work with tourists.

One of the enterprises that has been trained within the framework of the accelerator is the Raketa watch factory. As Ekaterina Kreschik, deputy public relations officer, told the publication, last summer an art space was opened at the plant, and a guide-translator appeared on staff. In the best month (August 2022), the number of excursions reached 500. In general, last year, compared to 2021, the flow of tourists increased 3 times.