Tourism in Russia

St. Basil's Cathedral in Red Square

Tourism in Russia plummeted in 2022. Only 200,100 foreigners visited Russia in 2022, a drop of 96.1% from pre-pandemic/pre-Russian invasion of Ukraine years. ^[1] Earlier, Russia had seen rapid growth since the late Soviet times, first domestic tourism and then international tourism as well. ^[2] Russia had formerly been among the most popular tourist destinations in the world, though it fell off that list in 2022. Not including Crimea, the country contains 23 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, while more are on UNESCO's tentative lists. ^[3]

Tourist routes in Russia include a travel around the Golden Ring of ancient cities, cruises on the rivers including the Volga, and long journeys on the Trans-Siberian Railway. Diverse regions and ethnic cultures of Russia offer different foods and souvenirs, and show a variety of traditions, including Russian Maslenitsa, Tatar Sabantuy, or Siberian shamanist rituals. In 2013, Russia was visited by 33 million tourists, making it the ninth-most visited country in the world and the seventh-most visited in Europe. ^[4]

History

After the Russian invasion of Ukraine, several governments, including the United States, France, the United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada have issued travel advisories calling on their nationals to avoid travel to Russia. ^[5] For the same reason, airline routes between Russia and Western countries were closed, and supply of spare parts for some domestic airline traffic inside Russia became a challenge. ^[6]

Only 200,100 foreigners visited Russia in 2022, a drop of 96.1 percent from the pre-pandemic period. ^[1] Most of Europe closed its airspace to Russian planes a few days after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. ^[1] Foreign-issued Visa and Mastercard cards no longer work in Russia, further impacting tourism. ^[1]

Cultural tourism

Kizhi in north-west Russia

Bolshaya Pokrovskaya Street in Nizhny Novgorod

Tourist destinations in Russia include Saint Petersburg (which appeared in the list of top visited cities of Europe in 2010) and Moscow, the current and the former capitals of the country. Moscow and Saint Petersburg museums such as Hermitage and Tretyakov Gallery, theaters including Bolshoi and Mariinsky, churches such as Saint Basil's Cathedral, Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, Saint Isaac's Cathedral and Church of the Savior on Blood, fortifications such as the Kremlin and Peter and Paul Fortress, squares such as Red Square and Palace Square, and streets such as Tverskaya and Nevsky Prospect. Palaces and parks are found in the former imperial residences in the suburbs of Moscow (Kolomenskoye, Tsaritsyno) and Saint Petersburg (Peterhof, Strelna, Oranienbaum, Gatchina, Pavlovsk Palace, Tsarskoye Selo). Moscow contains Soviet-era buildings along with modern skyscrapers, while Saint Petersburg has classical architecture, rivers, channels and bridges.^{[ citation needed ]}

Grand Cascade in Peterhof in Saint Petersburg

Nizhny Novgorod is the capital of the Volga region. Nizhny Novgorod is divided into two parts by the Oka River. The Upper City is its historical part. The Lower City is its industrial and commercial part. Here are the Fair, the old Sormovo and Kanavino, GAZ and Sotsgorod (the so-called "city in the city"), the railway terminal, and the airport.^{[ citation needed ]}

Kazan, the capital of Tatarstan, shows a mix of Christian Russian and Muslim Tatar cultures.^{[ citation needed ]}

Sakha Republic proposes to use former forced labour camps as a tourist attraction. ^[7] Poles visit places of Communist crimes, e.g., of the Katyn massacre and Solovetsky Islands. ^{[8] [9]}

Museums

Russia is home to museums that include the Tretyakov Gallery, the Kremlin Armoury and the State Historical Museum in Moscow, the Hermitage Museum, and the Russian Museum in St Petersburg, the Kazan Kremlin in Kazan, etc.^{[ citation needed ]} Russia has museums related to its literary and classical music heritage, such as Yasnaya Polyana associated with Leo Tolstoy, the Mikhaylovskoye Museum Reserve associated with Alexander Pushkin, the Dostoyevsky Museum, the Tchaikovsky State House-Museum, and the Rimsky-Korsakov Apartment and Museum.^{[ citation needed ]}

Museums related to Russia's military history and military hardware include the Central Museum of the Great Patriotic War on Poklonnaya Hill, the Central Naval Museum in St Petersburg, the Battle of Stalingrad Museum in Volgograd.^{[ citation needed ]} Museums related to science and technology include the Polytechnic Museum of Moscow, and the Memorial Museum of Cosmonautics.

The GULAG History Museum tells the story about the GULAG camps in Siberia. ^[10]

The State Historical Museum

Russian Museum

Museum of the Great Patriotic War, Moscow

The Hermitage Museum

Nature tourism

In Russia, Nature Reserves have history and it has its own word of definition Zapovedniks (Russian : заповедник, plural заповедники) more than 100 Nature Reserves exist in Russia and more than 50 National Parks.

National parks and sanctuaries of Russia include the Baikal Nature Reserve, the Altai Nature Reserve, the Lazovsky Nature Reserve, the Kedrovaya Pad Nature Reserve, the Curonian Spit National Park, the Valdaysky National Park, the Baikal-Lena Nature Reserve, the Ilmen Nature Reserve.

The Seven Wonders of Russia include Lake Baikal, Valley of Geysers, Manpupuner rock formations, Kizhi Island, and Mount Elbrus.

Other areas include Republic of Adygea where Fisht Mountain is located, Chechnya Republic where Lake Kezenoyam is located. ^[11]

The Valley of Geysers in Kamchatka Peninsula

Lake Baikal, the deepest lake in the world and the biggest fresh-water lake by volume

Mount Elbrus with its two peaks

The Manpupuner rock formations

Health tourism

Narzan Gallery building in Kislovodsk housing a dozen fountains of both hot and cold mineral-rich water

Mineral spa resorts have been established across Russia in such regions as Kamchatka Krai, Altai Krai, Krasnodar Krai, Stavropol Krai, North Caucasus region of Russia. ^[12] Some cites have natural hot spring water during winter and some of Russian cities are called Russian Spa town, including Pyatigorsk, Yessentuki, Kislovodsk, Zheleznovodsk and Mineralnye Vody; these towns are jointly known as the Caucasian Mineral Waters.

Russia has one of the largest water borders in world, but only the more Southern regions are suitable for resort tourism. The warm subtropical Black Sea coast of Russia is the site for some seaside resorts such as Sochi and Tuapse.^{[ citation needed ]}

Winter sport

A vast part of Russian territory is in Subarctic climate and humid continental climate, and that is why it is cold. In addition, Russia is mountainous in regions like Northern Caucasus, Altai Krai and Kamchatka Peninsula. The Highest peak in Europe, Mount Elbrus, is in Russia, which makes Russia a place for Winter sport. Ski resorts are in Russia. A ski resort in Russia is Sochi and its Krasnaya Polyana. Other ski resorts in Russia are Dombay in Karachay–Cherkessia in Northern Caucasus.^{[ citation needed ]}

The Gornaya Karusel in Sochi

Dombay

The Sheregesh in Kemerovo Oblast

Igora ski resort

Medical tourism

Russia is a destination for medical tourism. A factor in its popularity was the relatively weak ruble post-2014, which saw the industry grow from some 110,000 clients in 2017 ^[13] to some 728,000 clients in the first five months of 2020. ^[14] Stomatology is the most used (44% of patients), genecology and urology follow (25% taken together), the other services are plastic surgery (10%), ophthalmology (10%), and cardiology (5%). ^[13] Most clients come from the CIS states, where receiving high-tech medical assistance can be problematic, particularly from Central Asia, which amounts for 62% of all patients; but also from Eastern Europe (32%), South and East Asia (5%). ^[15] In addition to price and accessibility of complex manipulations, the difference in regulations between Russia and the clients' own nations is a driving factor for receiving care in Russia: for instance, in vitro fertilization is illegal in China, but legal in Russia. ^[14]

Religious tourism

Religious tourism has two main subtypes: pilgrimage, as travel done for religious or spiritual purposes, and the viewing of religious monuments and artefacts, as a kind of sightseeing. The former is relatively insignificant for the Russian tourism industry, amounting for approximately 100 thousands pilgrims yearly. ^[16] The latter is more important.^{[ citation needed ]} Orthodox Christianity being the most common religion in Russia, it also accounts for most religious monuments across the country.^{[ citation needed ]}

• 
  Domes of Sobornaya Square in Moscow Kremlin
• 
  The Cathedral of Christ the Saviour
• 
  The Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius
• 
  The Main Cathedral of the Russian Armed Forces
• 
  The Church of the Intercession on the Nerl
• 
  Rostov Kremlin
• 
  Saint Isaac's Cathedral
• 
  The Valaam Monastery

Multiple pieces of Islamic religious architectural art are scattered across the country, from mosques to maqāms. They are mostly clustered in the historically Muslim regions.^{[ citation needed ]}

• 
  Moscow Cathedral Mosque
• 
  The Saint Petersburg Mosque
• 
  Perm Mosque
• 
  The Kul Sharif Mosque in Kazan
• 
  Bulgar Mosque
• 
  Lala Tulpan in Ufa
• 
  The Juma Mosque in Derbent built 736
• 
  The Heart of Chechnya mosque

Russia has a Buddhist minority.^{[ citation needed ]}

• 
  The Datsan Gunzechoinei in St.Petersburg
• 
  The Burkhan Bakshin Altan Sume in Elista
• 
  Ivolginsky Datsan in Buryatia
• 
  Sagaan Ubgen statue on Big Bogdo mountain sacred site in Astrakhan Oblast

Foreign travel statistics

In 2013, 27 million international tourists arrived in Russia, generating US$11.2 billion in international tourism revenue for the country. ^{[17] [ failed verification ]} Including domestic and international tourism, the industry directly contributed RUB860 billion to the Russian GDP and supported 966,500 jobs in the country. ^[18]

However, only 200,100 foreigners visited Russia in 2022, a drop of 96.1 percent. ^[1]

This section is transcluded from Visa policy of Russia. (edit | history)

Visitor statistics

According to the Border Service of the Federal Security Service and the Federal State Statistics Service, most visitors arriving to Russia were from the following countries of nationality: ^{[19] [20]}

Total visitors by year

2019	32,866,265
2018	32,550,677
2017	32,035,443
2016	31,466,538
2015	33,729,187
2014	32,421,490
2013	30,792,091
2012	28,176,502
2011	24,932,061
2010	22,281,217
2009	21,338,650
2008	23,676,140
2007	22,908,625

Visitor statistics 2024-2021

Country	2024	2023	2022	2021
Kazakhstan	3,407,706	3,163,214
Uzbekistan	3,360,423	3,109,445
Tajikistan	1,701,543	2,153,956
China	1,695,873	794,387
Kyrgyzstan	1,195,392	1,140,239
Abkhazia	718,101	764,766
Armenia	621,015	616,659
Azerbaijan	533,020	476,743
Belarus	519,591	414,677
Mongolia	367,451	311,479

Visitor statistics 2020-2016

Nationality	Total (includes all types of purposes of visits)
	2020	2019	2018	2017	2016
Ukraine	3,648,972	8,646,295	9,177,272	9,817,008	9,737,405
Kazakhstan	1,426,727	4,324,856	4,241,244	4,137,613	4,686,059
Uzbekistan	720,041	2,588,922	2,354,642	2,350,007	2,116,480
Abkhazia	414,927	600,399	492,310	436,368	415,606
Tajikistan	401,888	1,557,148	1,340,975	1,350,356	1,293,270
Kyrgyzstan	299,611	959,130	859,735	836,946	792,042
Azerbaijan	269,807	1,175,045	1,145,327	1,143,243	1,156,703
Armenia	209,812	816,454	825,200	857,212	833,577
Finland	180,110	938,693	994,098	1,063,348	1,376,646
Belarus	176,601	440,438	403,597	382,022	320,372
China	155,594	2,257,039	2,030,319	1,780,200	1,565,524
Moldova	154,766	614,043	698,027	803,916	699,112
Philippines	133,414	193,031	179,672	172,278	160,734
Poland	133,014	680,382	728,546	765,544	1,056,013
Turkey	132,372	187,612	196,061	181,285	120,035
Estonia	105,584	540,062	496,582	432,803	433,926
Latvia	93,865	365,783	355,641	330,266	360,603
Stateless persons	74,215	303,851	327,613	318,393	321,383
South Ossetia	70,470	147,355	143,501	137,427	115,382
Germany	69,456	744,473	701,576	629,082	613,370
Lithuania	57,883	253,950	243,190	256,009	281,168
Mongolia	56,625	394,994	401,485	416,293	542,196
Georgia	56,266	120,086	123,732	117,204	65,378
India	46,025	180,567	159,865	130,400	108,498
South Korea	42,297	453,796	386,413	276,560	181,024
France	38,391	249,410	236,583	211,673	201,260
Israel	32,402	260,472	228,530	185,426	182,438
Italy	28,432	251,751	225,776	206,860	208,689
Serbia	26,731	84,852	96,730	87,899	79,575
United Kingdom	22,471	194,956	216,029	193,522	190,278
Turkmenistan	21,680	92,616	82,675	65,749	56,258
Vietnam	19,477	90,565	84,612	77,391	66,939
United States	19,306	300,933	337,395	293,011	248,990
Japan	16,048	127,696	119,240	114,207	95,675
Netherlands	14,663	84,651	80,540	73,729	68,017
Egypt	13,481	28,039	39,402
Iran	12,725	54,469	61,007	91,862	75,203
Thailand	12,183	72,031	64,898	52,697	32,222
Greece	11,732	44,784	42,967	41,205	46,730
Bulgaria	10,255	41,083	40,836	39,191	41,290
Austria	9,977	67,429	64,500	59,501	56,663
Czech Republic	9,874	57,835	53,739	49,232	47,288
Indonesia	9,671	40,284	31,695	25,425	20,211
Spain	9,565	140,181	123,652	118,642	116,032
Romania	9,335	32,779	29,920	26,330	23,684
Norway	8,506	52,022	51,003	53,197	46,631
Sweden	8,308	43,198	55,329	32,095	39,153
Belgium	7,534	42,473	48,270	38,868	37,492
Croatia	7,480	19,243	36,045
Switzerland	7,407	55,747	59,828	53,167	52,656
Cuba	6,631	29,169	27,882	30,711	26,667
Hungary	5,680	35,541	32,998	25,659	25,313
Denmark	5,016	24,662	31,308
Total	n/a	32,866,265	32,550,677	32,035,443	31,466,538

Visitor statistics 2015-2010

Nationality	Total (includes all types of purposes of visits)
	2015	2014	2013	2012	2011	2010
Ukraine	10,314,757	9,842,990	7,080,991	6,502,543	6,072,775	4,198,030
Kazakhstan	5,180,246	4,215,161	3,848,899	3,630,342	3,049,406	2,747,358
Uzbekistan	2,163,256	2,353,140	2,967444	2,677,322	2,086,359	1,584,086
Poland	1,766,612	1,823,143	1,644,657	1,190,003	704,610	394,872
Finland	1,476,412	1,446,169	1,388,036	1,375,614	1,211,520	1,012,621
China	1,353,051	1,125,098	1,071,515	978,988	845,588	747,640
Tajikistan	1,200,972	1,202,260	1,348,868	1,134,150	955,455	830,160
Azerbaijan	1,071,324	1,021,204	1,196,759	1,116,238	1,045,525	979,778
Armenia	850,137	794,098	882,864	700,332	550,349	459,040
Kyrgyzstan	842,396	725,664	763,418	623,970	592,960	552,909
Moldova	770,965	923,625	1,374,690	1,194,291	1,073,637	988,084
Germany	595,200	635,153	686,557	671,676	629,391	611,367
Mongolia	505,429	225,972	226,673	365,236	212,117	157,367
Belarus	424,531	495,999	418,207	372,942	267,233	259,191
Abkhazia	422,130	362,811	293,429	273,964	202,440	52,289
Estonia	382,031	363,942	430,164	494,282	519,402	474,949
Latvia	348,338	374,701	391,304	461,162	571,374	569,300
Stateless persons	326,841	349,400	463,640	523,333	618,705	679,757
Turkey	323,039	361,416	385,147	305,429	249,109	196,704
Lithuania	270,600	487,206	539,308	553,896	622,740	760,728
United States	242,104	257,070	305,954	286,551	275,239	262,060
Italy	204,710	219,976	225,933	212,411	207,476	198,002
France	191,643	219,210	225,860	225,343	213,473	194,248
United Kingdom	190,775	228,346	259,676	231,670	221,418	212,847
Israel	165,003	152,853	136,827	123,974	114,380	100,291
Philippines	163,010	162,990	149,213	130,541	99,405	81,385
South Korea	153,189	135,676	107,942	94,922	91,335	90,622
South Ossetia	125,444	117,283	94,159	73,863	47,739	33,409
Spain	110,247	100,206	109,089	101,536	129,730	110,601
India	95,527	94,259	95,542	80,127	60,191	53,364
Japan	93,550	105,220	102,408	86,806	76,204	78,188
Serbia	79,406	87,048	107,601	70,371	57,177	47,939
Georgia	69,095	58,264	48,440	35,511	30,415	24,568
Netherlands	63,469	80,543	86,402	81,212	87,549	80,720
Vietnam	60,882	75,840	81,073	62,961	53,529	50,823
Austria	57,242	67,392	74,277	71,863	70,388	67,606
Turkmenistan	51,170	47,002	40,238	43,720	39,579	35,017
Norway	49,535	57,423	54,433	50,115	48,614	45,340
Iran.	46,760	29,743	20,657	23,085	21,575	20,576
Czech Republic	46,432	68,875	76,530	62,980	46,776	40,565
Switzerland	46,200	50,838	54,898	52,852	47,978	44,964
Canada	43,663	53,370	61,234	54,730	52,238	48,559
Greece	41,210	46,450	48,280	36,474	33,569	33,396
Sweden	40,424	49,908	53,340	58,900	60,840	54,253
Australia	39,613	46,072	46,861	43,105	34,868	30,583
Bulgaria	37,035	42,230	47,154	45,312	42,031	38,446
Brazil	35,531	33,301	37,386	33,647	29,840	21,950
Belgium	33,714	37,441	40,316	37,025	36,430	33,571
Thailand	29,482	25,585	23,919	19,375	17,023	15,192
Romania	25,970	28,391	30,886	24,792	21,993	17,884
Hungary	24,849	28,421	27,155	23,047	23,241	20,736
Mexico	22,922	18,223	21,527	16,431	16,759	13,767
North Korea	20,893	23,902	23,604	22,071	18,901	21,167
Slovakia	19,876	24,962	27,554	24,161	20,445	18,512
Indonesia	18,100	20,330	21,088	18,572	18,313	14,448
Argentina	17,322	13,614	15,944	13,976	12,316	9,044
Portugal	15,475	15,181	14,952	15,398	15,814	18,434
Cuba	12,349	11,609	9,625	5,293	4,099	4,053
Total	33,729,187	32,421,490	30,792,091	28,176,502	24,932,016	22,281,217

Visa statistics

Most electronic visas were issued for citizens of the following countries (top-10):

Country	2024	2023 [Note 1]
China	311,839	86,619
Saudi Arabia	63,218	8,915
Germany	52,425	11,335
Turkey	42,202	9,865
India	32,145	9,456
Estonia	25,404	13,318
Latvia	19,410	5,137
Kuwait	16,982	3,924
Iran	16,973	3,276
Lithuania	10,121	3,107
Total	670,947	170,104

Most visas were issued in the following countries:

Country	Number of visas issued in
	2020	2019	2018	2017	2016	2015
Germany	58,953	410,780	360,582	336,423	324,959	299,791
China	41,280	453,338	406,831	371,489	339,030	357,040
Turkey	34,162	83,169	81,177	79,898	45,209	33,698
France	27,059	172,870	146,491	145,576	131,229	119,314
United Kingdom	20,770	92,573	88,290	96,246	93,169	87,863
Italy	18,272	162,529	139,797	129,124	129,038	117,123
United States	16,736	106,250	98,936	95,630	94,682	85,974
Finland	14,271	110,480	105,157	108,792	116,462	112,655
Latvia	11,295	78,727	79,082	74,382	77,574	70,328
Poland	10,535	67,666	62,840	59,187	54,885	43,038
Total	452 161	3,090,538	2,758,893	2,687,146	2,505,457	2,283,850

See also

• Visa policy of Russia
• Russian culture
• List of museums in Russia
• List of World Heritage Sites in Russia
• Wildlife of Russia

Notes

1. Russia started issuing e-Visas on 1 August 2023.

References

1. "Tourism collapses in Russia following western sanctions". Al Arabiya English. 9 February 2023.
2. "Number of inbound tourism visits to Russia from 2014 to 2022", Statista, 27 April 2023
3. "UNESCO World Heritage Centre – Tentative Lists". UNESCO. Retrieved 16 December 2017.
4. "Tourism Highlights 2014" (PDF). E-unwto.org. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 January 2015. Retrieved 16 December 2017.
5. "Europe: Russia extends flight suspension at multiple southern and central airports until April 19 /update 40". Europe: Russia extends flight suspension at multiple southern and central airports until April 19 /update 40 | Crisis24.
6. "Sanctions: Russia's commercial airlines face a slow death", Deutsche Welle, 18 November 2022
7. Luhn, Alec (26 March 2014). "Russia's Sakha Republic proposes 'tourist camps' on former gulag sites". The Guardian .
8. "Strona domeny katyn.pl". Katyn.pl. Archived from the original on 14 April 2016. Retrieved 16 December 2017.
9. Itaka, Biuro Podróży. "Tajemnice Wysp Sołowieckich – ITAKA". Itaka.pl. Retrieved 16 December 2017.
10. "GULAG History Museum". gmig.ru.
11. "40 most beautiful places in Russia". Russianblogger.me. Retrieved 30 September 2015.
12. "Hit the spa Russian style: Mineral springs and hot tub substitutes". 2 March 2016.
13. "Медицинский туризм: почему иностранцы лечатся в России, а россияне — за границей" [Medical tourism: why foreigners seek treatment in Russia, and Russians abroad]. forbes.ru (in Russian). 14 August 2018. Retrieved 15 August 2021.
14. "Какое лечение в России выбирают иностранцы" [What kind of medical treatment do foreigners choose in Russia]. ratanews.ru (in Russian). RATA news. Retrieved 15 August 2021.
15. Daykhes, Arkady N.; Jakovljevic, Mihajlo; Reshetnikov, Vladimir A.; Kozlov, Vasily V. (2020). "Promises and Hurdles of Medical Tourism Development in the Russian Federation". Frontiers in Psychology. 11: 1380. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01380 . PMC   7324547 . PMID   32655455.
16. "Туристов отделят от паломников с 1 ноября" [Starting November 1, tourists will be separated from pilgrims]. atorus.ru (in Russian). Ассоциация Туроператоров. 23 July 2019. Retrieved 15 August 2021.
17. "Tourism Highlights 2013 edition" (PDF). Dtxtq4w60xqpw.cloudfront.net. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 November 2013. Retrieved 27 November 2013.
18. "2013 Travel & Tourism Economic Impact Report Russian Federation" (PDF). Wttc.org. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 December 2013. Retrieved 27 November 2013.
19. "Паспорт набора данных "Визы по странам"" (in Russian). Консульский департамент МИД России. Archived from the original on 9 August 2020. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
20. Въезд иностранных граждан в РФ

External links

• Moscow City Guide at the official website of the Mayor of Moscow
• St Petersburg Official City Guide
• Karelia Tourist Portal (Solovetsky Islands, Kizhi)
• Guide to the Golden Ring of Russia
• Tatarstan Official Guide(including Kazan)
• Official Rosa Khutor Guide (ski resorts in Sochi)
• Baikal Tourist Guide
• Vladivostok City Guide
• (in Russian) Federal Agency for Tourism
• Cheboksary tourist portal Archived 13 August 2018 at the Wayback Machine