Administration of the city Kazan, which is considered the Muslim hub of Russia, has extensive plans of turning the city into an influential centre of business and religious tourism and to attract pilgrims from around the world.
      At the current moment a large-scale programme of tourism development up to 2010 is being worked out and implies creation of a special travel-informational centre that will promote the city abroad. There is an opinion that one of Kazan`s advantage is closeness to Moscow (1 hour by plane), and availability of direct flights provided by the German air company Lufthansa.
      It is planned to draw much attention to religious tourism and pilgrims. This year the city has already hosted several groups of pilgrims from the USA, Germany, and Syria. According to a prognosis, the Pilgrim Centre of Kazan will host up to 1 million pilgrims per year in the nearest future.
      Note: Kazan is the capital city of the Republic of Tatarstan, Russia, and one of Russia's largest cities.
      
      Source: www.intertat.ru