Telethon about travelling in Russian cities to start during the biggest tourism expo in Africa

In the days of the Africa's Travel Indaba international tourism exhibition, which will be held in May 2024 in Durban, South Africa, a telethon of programmes about travels in small towns in Russia will be launched. 16 new episodes of the City of Stories series of the TV BRICS will be broadcast by the popular entertainment internet channel DUrbanTV. South African audiences could see the project's first films in 2023.

DUrbanTV management purposefully timed the premiere of the second season of Cities of Stories to coincide with Africa's Travel Indaba 2024, one of the continent's biggest tourism events, which is supported by the South African Government and attracts participants and media from around the world.

"This is the perfect time to showcase the new episodes of City of Stories because Durban and the rest of South Africa traditionally focuses on tourism in May. These programmes immerse viewers in the exciting world of adventure and travel, discover the beauty of Russia, and introduce its fascinating history and culture. We were surprised to discover how much the Russian and South African heritage have in common. This helps to strengthen friendly relations between our countries. We look forward to the continuation of the project as we are sure that we will learn even more about the opportunities that Russia offers for tourism and cultural exchange," said Doreen Theys, CEO of DUrbanTV.

Yulia Nazarkina, Head of International Projects at TV BRICS, said that DUrbanTV has been successfully cooperating with the media network for several years. A special TV BRICS section has been created on the channel. The partners regularly exchange programmes and films on culture and travel. In 2020, for example, TV BRICS produced a series of short films about Durban.

The series of programmes "City of Stories" was created by the TV BRICS International Media Network. Two seasons of the project were released between 2022 and 2023, totalling 29 episodes of 25 minutes each. The authors told about the most interesting small towns of Central Russia, located in the Vladimir, Kaluga, Moscow, Ryazan, Tver and Yaroslavl regions. Among them are the ancient cities of the Golden Ring: Suzdal, Vladimir, Pereslavl-Zalessky, Yaroslavl and Kostroma.

The project aims to advance the UN General Assembly's Sustainable Development Goal No. 11 (ensure inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable cities and human settlements), which received support at the XV BRICS Summit in Johannesburg.

"City of Stories" has been adapted into English, Chinese, Portuguese and Spanish. Earlier, partners of the TV BRICS International Media Network showed the programme in China, South Africa, Brazil, Argentina and Venezuela. The project episodes are regularly published on their Internet platforms by diplomatic agencies and cultural centres of the Russian Federation abroad, including the Russian Embassy in South Africa and the Russian House of Rossotrudnichestvo in Chennai (India).