in 2023, the number of foreign tourists entering Russia has tripled – Kommersant
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In 2023, the number of foreign tourists entering Russia more than tripled – from 187 thousand to 600 thousand, said Dmitry Gorin, vice-president of the Russian Union of Tourism Industry (RST). According to Mr. Gorin, growth will continue in 2024 mainly due to travelers from China.
“For the entire year of 2023, there were about 600 thousand foreign tourists in Russia who indicated the purpose of tourism. This indicates a serious restoration of the incoming flow, since in 2022 there were 187 thousand tourists. The bulk of these visitors are business tourists (80%), rather than classic ones,” said “RIA News” Vice President of PCT.
According to Mr. Gorin, the electronic visa has had a significant impact on the development of inbound tourism. Expensive air tickets and the lack of “payment solutions” became a deterrent, since cards from foreign banks do not work in Russia, he noted. “But on a positive note, in addition to electronic visas, we should note the launch of visa-free group trips for citizens of China and Iran. According to statistics, in the first months since August alone, we received over 50 thousand Chinese tourists through this mechanism,” added the vice president of the PCT.
According to PCT estimates, this year the number of incoming tourists will increase two to three times. At the same time, the industry demonstrated one of the best indicators in 2019, when 5 million foreign tourists came to Russia. “The basis for rapid growth can be a visa-free group regime with China. Citizens of the Middle East, India, Iran, China and other countries are also actively visiting us,” concluded Dmitry Gorin.
The increase in the number of trips around Russia has led to an increase in investor demand for tourism infrastructure. Avito calculated that in 2023, interest in purchasing ready-made businesses and franchises in the tourism sector increased by 64.8% year on year. The figure significantly exceeded the average growth in interest in buying a business on the platform, which increased by 15.6% over the year.
Read more in the publication “Kommersant” “Investors are booking rooms”.
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