Yamal residents who plan to create a business in tourism and entrepreneurs who are already working in the tourism industry will be able to apply for participation in the first Yamal tourism accelerator, reports the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Area government's press service.

The educational module consisting of three stages starts on 20 April. It will last four months. The programme is implemented within the framework of the national Small and Medium Entrepreneurship project, aiming to create and develop business projects in the tourism sector of Yamal. Registration will be open until 18 April at DevelopBusiness89.ru.

As noted in the My Business agency of YNAA, the tourism accelerator will allow entrepreneurs to go from an idea to a ready-made business strategy in a short period of time. Thoroughly developed tourist projects will be accepted for individual (and investment) support from the My Business centre.

The first stage of the educational module is a business intensive in the form of webinars and a design session. Participants, together with federal and regional experts, will study the opportunities and prospects for developing tourism business projects in Yamal, and form a business idea that will be improved during the next stages of acceleration.

At the second stage, under the supervision of experienced mentors, the course participants will form the idea into a business plan, and learn the tools to promote the project in order to increase its market value, attract investors and partners. At the end of the module, participants will go on a business mission to study one of the successful cases of tourist sites in Russia.

The final stage of the accelerator is a demo day during which participants will present their business projects to experts. The best projects will be taken on by the county centre My Business for investment support.

The tourism sector is one of the priority areas for the entrepreneurship development in Yamal. Thanks to the accelerator, tourism business projects will appear in the district, which will help Yamal residents and the district's guests to diversify their leisure time.

Today, there are about 100 entrepreneurs in Yamal engaged in the field of tourism. They organise excursions to cultural and historical routes of the area, accompany package tours to the main tourist sites of Yamal, and help the northerners to have a high-quality recreation outside of it.