The number of foreign tourists with electronic visas is growing in Russia

The e-visa system launched in Russia on August 1 has led to an increase in hotel bookings by foreign tourists by 25% compared to the previous month and by 40% yoy. The easing of the visa policy attracts tourists not only from India, Iran, Turkey and China, but even from European countries. So far, the flow is formed by independent travelers and it is quite limited. The growth of group tours to the country business is not expected until next year.

In August, the number of hotel bookings in the Russian Federation by foreigners increased by 25% compared to July and by 40% year-on-year, Ostrovok.ru calculated at the request of Kommersant. They added that in July, compared with June, there was no pronounced growth. Travelline notes that the share of Russian hotel bookings from foreign IPs in July-August increased by 7.7% year-on-year. Vice-President of the Federation of Restaurateurs and Hoteliers Vadim Prasov noticed an increase in foreign tourists at the end of summer from Asia, the Middle East and Europe.

Kommersant experts associate the growth in demand of foreigners for accommodation in the country’s hotels in August with the launch of electronic visas for entry into the Russian Federation for citizens of 55 countries.

Such a visa allows you to stay in the country for about two weeks, its cost is about $52. Alla Gordienko, head of the visa and migration department at Continent Express, says that such visas are now in demand among applicants from India, Turkey, China, Iran, Vietnam, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, the Netherlands, France, Italy and Spain.

Sergey Romashkin, Vice-President of the Association of Tour Operators of Russia, suggests that while the revival of the entry flow due to electronic visas is observed mainly in the independent travel segment, the effect for tour operators is not yet so pronounced.

“We were in a similar situation in 2018, when the simplification of the visa procedure (within the framework of the World Cup.— “b”) contributed to the growth in the flow of guests to the country who did not use the services of tour operators,” the expert adds. Yulia Lipatova, managing director of Aeroclub, does not rule out that the majority of those entering on electronic visas issue them themselves, without the help of agents and operators.

According to Ostrovok.ru, citizens of India, the United Arab Emirates, Germany, Turkey, Finland and Saudi Arabia are leading among the countries in terms of the number of hotel accommodation bookings in Russia. The most noticeable increase in the demand of foreign guests is for accommodation in Irkutsk (the number of bookings tripled year-on-year in August), Vladivostok (two-fold growth), Moscow (by 58%) and Kazan (by 50%). Also among the popular Russian destinations for foreign tourists are St. Petersburg, Kaliningrad, Sochi, Yekaterinburg and Novosibirsk.

Despite the positive dynamics, the flow of foreign tourists to Russia remains restrained: Ostrovok.ru indicates that they accounted for only 10% of bookings in August. In Travelline, the figure for July-August is estimated at 6.54%.

The general director of Tari-Tour, Marina Levchenko, believes that so far, mainly small groups of tourists who have received mainly classical visas come to Russia. “We had groups from Arab countries, China, Asia, India, Bulgaria,” she lists, adding that the total number of tourists now lags far behind pre-pandemic numbers. The representative of Intourist, Daria Domostroyeva, says that this summer groups of tourists from Southeast Asia, China, Latin America came, arrivals from Europe were of an individual nature.

The impact of electronic visas on the market, according to Ms. Levchenko, can be traced next year: this year the main season of trips to Russia is already coming to an end. Daria Domostroeva explains that the majority of tourists plan their vacation six months or a year in advance. “We are seeing a positive trend in pre-booking for the next tourist season through e-visas,” she says, adding that there are no guarantees that these trips will take place.

Alexandra Mertsalova