Representatives of the Volga Region University spoke at the 2nd Russian-Chinese Forum.

Elvira Rumyantseva, Director of the Institute of Continuing Education, and Maria Vesloguzova, Head of the Department of Service and Tourism, served as speakers at the 2nd Russian-Chinese Forum.

The event took place in Khabarovsk and aimed to expand cooperation between the two countries across various sectors, including tourism. Participants included representatives from Russian regions as well as speakers from the Chinese provinces of Heilongjiang, Liaoning, Guangdong, and Shaanxi.

Staff members from the Volga Region University participated in a session titled "Workforce Training for Tourism and Hospitality: Significance, Standards, and Trends." During the session, representatives from educational institutions and tourism and hospitality professionals discussed industry workforce training, the integrated development of tourism areas, and the creation of joint Russian-Chinese educational programs.

Additionally, Elvira Rumyantseva and Maria Vesloguzova delivered a presentation on "An Integrated Approach to the Development of Tourism Areas." They shared the university's experience in establishing a continuous education system for tourism and hospitality professionals—spanning college, bachelor’s, master’s, and postgraduate levels—and outlined the work of the Center for Tourism Industry Workforce Development. They also presented professional retraining and advanced training programs implemented under the "Tourism and Hospitality" national project, highlighting their role in the integrated development of tourism areas. Joining the discussion alongside them were Ilya Umansky, President of the Russian Union of the Travel Industry; Sergey Galitsyn, Rector of the Far Eastern State Academy of Physical Culture; Irina Bushueva, Director of the Higher School of Tourism and Hospitality; as well as Zhao Yang, Professor at the Institute of Tourism and Culinary Arts of Harbin University of Commerce, and Cui Yufan, Director of the Institute of Tourism at the Kunlun Tourism College of Heilongjiang Institute of Technology.

"We consider our work at the forum to have been productive, as the key directions for the university's future cooperation with Far Eastern regions regarding workforce training—within the framework of the national project—were identified," emphasized Elvira Rumyantseva.

Text: Adelina Khramova