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"Museums and the Issue of 'Cultural Tourism'": A Round Table Discussion On 29 April 2004 the State Hermitage was host to the second Round Table discussion devoted to new ways that museums can interact with their partners among tourist agencies and social organizations. Deputy Director of the State Hermitage for Exhibitions and Development V. Yu. Matveev delivered an opening statement that emphasized the timeliness of the theme and remarked that this type of meeting is becoming regular. Among the participants in the Round Table were representatives from many museums around Russia and tourist agencies of St Petersburg, as well as staff from the Hermitage. They discussed questions surrounding the implementation of a development program, the policy of projecting an 'image', how to strengthen bonds with the public, and special programs for different categories of visitors. This year great interest was elicited by reports devoted to programs for developing the museums in the context of new historical and economic circumstances. It may be said that the most important of these reports was delivered by the State Hermitage's Director for the Tourism Sector and Special Programs O.B. Arkhipova. She remarked that the State Hermitage is one of the first museums to have recognized tourists as a separate category of visitors: five years ago it created a department working precisely on planning and producing a 'tourist product'. Among the other notable presentations at the meeting was a report by Director of the Museum-Park "Staraya Ladoga" L.A. Gubchevskaya which touched on the sensitive question of museums that are remote from major cities and the peculiarities of the marketing policy of such museums. In addition there was discussion of future long-term projects between museums and tourist agencies. M.N. Meliutina (Archangelsk State Museum of the Arts of the Russian North) spoke about the "Museum Odyssey" as a nontraditional form of cultural and educational activity of art museums. A. G. Kalmykov (State Museum of the Political History of Russia) informed participants about an orientation tour in the "Quick time" regime, while V.M. Akhunov (State Russian Museum) reported on the combined system for visiting the museums of St Petersburg. The session of the Round Table was accompanied by a visit to both permanent displays and temporary exhibitions in the Hermitage, as well a special guided tour of the Porcelain Factory Museum. One of the results of the second Round Table will be the publication of a collection of reports delivered by participants. |
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