Such a glittering vacation could include scouring Siberia for your own diamonds, and perhaps visiting the world famous Mirny Mine. Picture: fresher.ru
By The Siberian Times reporter, 04 September 2015: Not for you? But it is a diamond mine... ! Or perhaps you prefer a more cosmic experience? A holiday at the world's largest spaceport, Vostochny Cosmodrome, now under construction in Amur region on the eastern fringes of Siberia. These gems for future bucket lists were floated by Russia's tourism chief Oleg Safonov at the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok this week. Such a glittering vacation could include scouring Siberia for your own diamonds, and perhaps visiting the world famous Mirny Mine, an open cast pit, the second largest excavated hole in the world.
'There will be a lot of people who may be interested to see with their own eyes the process of diamond production.' Picture: Melnik Yevgenyev, Yakutia Government
'We need to consider the creation of industrial tourism,' he said, referring to some of the world's richest diamond mines in the Sakha Republic, also called Yakutia. 'Diamond-mining enterprises may become attractive facilities. There will be a lot of people who may be interested to see with their own eyes the process of diamond production.' Safonov, head of Rostourism, or the Russian Federal Agency for Tourism, also wants the country's new spaceport to be open to visitors from home and abroad.
The cosmodrome is a unique facility, such facilities can be counted on the fingers of one hand, they should be used in the tourism industry.' Picture: Igor Ageenko
'A tourist facility may be created on the basis of the Vostochny spaceport, which will be accessible for foreign tourists as well,' he said. 'The cosmodrome is a unique facility, such facilities can be counted on the fingers of one hand, they should be used in the tourism industry.' Vostochny's first unmanned launch is scheduled for December this year, with manned missions now expected in 2025.
'Russian Far East is home to unique fish species and game coupled with excellent ecological conditions.' Picture: Sergey Gorshkov
There are other possibilities too for tourism in a vast region that has for decades neglected its potential, he made clear. 'We are accustomed to the fact that gastronomic tourism is primarily associated with the West, whereas the (Russian) Far East is home to unique fish species and game coupled with excellent ecological conditions. Source: Article
