Claims of Chechen Tourism Ministry boss to bloggers spark bewilderment among social network users

Muslim Baitaziev, the Chechen Minister of Tourism, has criticized local bloggers for not advertising the region's tourist sites, and put forward bills when offered free visits to the sites to later advertise the in their blogs.

According to the Minister, bloggers, while "having huge audiences," nevertheless "never promote their region – they've never advertised it."

"When we, as a ministry, go out to them with a proposal to go to Veduchi, with free transport, accommodation, a chic table, show our land, region, we are charged a fee. They say: pay us such and such money, and we'll go with you," the "Grozny-Inform" quoted Minister Baitaziev as saying on January 29.

In their comments, social media users expressed bewilderment at the claims, noting that blogging is also a job that deserves payment. "And why, one might ask, is the Ministry of Tourism in Chechnya in need of tourist inflow? It needs it to advertise the region and, ultimately, to earn money and develop tourism. And what if the people who earn their living on the YouTube are asking to pay for their time and efforts? This is their job," the user Kazak has written.

"And you pay some salary to these bloggers, at least a lump sum ... Efforts and time cost money!" the user sobare_lyamnash has suggested.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on January 30, 2022 at 05:37 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.