On March 25, KIU and the Russian House in Barcelona Foundation conducted a joint project - "Online Debates: Cultural Tourism and Youth Exchanges in the Era of a Pandemic".

KIU acted as a co-organizer of the event. KIU Rector Asiya Timiryasova shared her experience of how our university survived in a difficult year of a pandemic, what challenges the university faced and what success it has achieved thanks to the fruitful work of staff and students.

The moderator and main organizer of the international event was Anna Silyunas, General Director of the Russian House in Barcelona Foundation. Last year, she became a guest of honor at KIU during the signing of a cooperation agreement.

The guests of the debates were the head of the Kazan Tourism Committee Daria Sannikova, the Barcelona Tourism Development Director Mateo Asensio, journalist, guide, photographer, blog author Igor Vorobey and journalist Ricardo Markina.

During the debate, we managed to get acquainted with the situation during the pandemic in two countries - Russia and Spain, learn how representatives of different spheres coped with the difficulties caused by "covid" restrictions, and what new ways of developing their activities they managed to find.

Despite the limitations that the pandemic brought us: the inability to travel to other countries, the inability for many students to come to full-time study, the decrease in the tourist flow within the country and in the international market as a whole, the experts highlighted other aspects. The pandemic gave impetus to the development of other areas and formats of work in each area: popularizing digitalization, increasing the attractiveness of online travel, developing new projects and programs in new conditions.

The online debate was held in a warm and friendly atmosphere. In the near future, we hope to continue the topic of face-to-face debates in Kazan and Barcelona.

You can watch the full recording of the online debate on the YouTube channel: