On 15 March 2007, the museum received journalists who are writing about tourism. The event was organized by the Northwest Region Section of the Russian Union of the Tourist Industry (NWRS RUTI) as part of the count-down to the 2007 summer season. Within the framework of the orientation tour "Petersburg through the eyes of tourists," representatives of the press visited the Staraya Derevnya Restoration and Storage Center. Among those participating in the tour were representatives of the publications St Petersburg Vedomosti, Vedomosti, DP.ru, Ekonomika I vremya and Dokhodnoye delo. The Press Secretary of NWRS RUTI, Tatyana Demeneva, acted as moderator. Insofar as the whole tour was organized as a press conference on wheels, while the journalists were still en route they could learn a lot about how the State Hermitage receives visitors, develops and carries out special programs. The director of the Sector for Receiving Group Visits, Tatyana Zorina, spoke about the State Hermitage's role as an important link in the tourist industry of the Northwest that influences the phenomenon known as "repeat tourism." The museum is often the visiting card of the city for those who arrive in St Petersburg the first time. Therefore it is especially important that there be a special way of organizing the time spent by city guests in the Hermitage, so that might be not simply the usual standard visit to a museum but a whole array of events including a tour, a game, an evening concert program, a visit to the restoration ateliers and much more - all of which necessarily makes the visit to the country's largest museum an unforgettable experience.

After an entertaining talk about current special programs and those under preparation, the visit to the Restoration and Storage Center ensued. The Center is still a new building for the general public. Deputy Director of the Hermitage Vladimir Matveev met the journalists on the street at the entrance to the Staraya Derevnya complex and accompanied the group during the entire tour, which was led by the Center's senior researcher Vladimir Dobrovolsky. During the course of an hour, representatives of the press familiarized themselves with the storerooms of Ancient Russian painting, sculpture and furniture. The so-called Theater of Tapestries and the Carriage Hall created the strongest impression on the visitors,

Then journalists were shown the program "The Past at one's Fingertips." (More). Representatives of the department of security showed participants of the press tour the high degree of security in place both on the grounds of the complex and in all its closed premises. Staff of the computer department told about the electronic monitoring of the temperature and air quality in the repository.

The visit to the Restoration and Storage Center ended in an informal setting: over a cup of tea the journalists could ask Vladimir Matveev all the questions they had saved from the tour and also could share their impressions of what they had seen.

At the Staraya Derevnya Restoration and Storage Center

Presentation of the program "The Past at one's Fingertips"

Chat over a cup of tea