Andrey Ershov
Domestic tourism in Russia shows good dynamics; by the end of this year, the tourist flow will be about 70 mn tourists and reach the pre-pandemic levels. This was announced by Mokhmad Akhmadov, deputy chairman of the Federation Council’s Committee on Social Policy, during a round table held in the Upper Chamber of the Parliament following the results of the summer tourist season.
According to him, this was facilitated by the decision to zero out the value added tax for 5 years for accommodation facilities and tour operators providing a comprehensive product on domestic tourism routes, as well as by increased availability of financial services for foreign tourists through creating a “tourist card” that can be used for cashless payments and making purchases in Russia at the end of this year. “From August 1, the single electronic visa for citizens of 55 countries was renewed. Traveling by visa-free tourist groups from China and Iran has begun. Contacts are expanding and tourist flows from and to the countries of the EAEU and CIS are increasing,” the senator said.
According to him, over 150 bn rubles have been allocated from the federal budget over two years for the implementation of the national project ‘Tourism and Hospitality Industry’. “Further, annual budget expenditures on tourism are planned to be about 48 bn rubles per year. In addition, the program of favourable credit facilities for building a modern tourism infrastructure will be continued, during which over 400 bn rubles have already been raised for building 27.5 thousand new hotel rooms. Additional 10 bn rubles are allocated from the federal budget for the popular program for the construction of modular prefabricated hotels; 58 Russian regions will receive the money in 2023-2024,” the parliamentarian said. He proposed to recommend to the Russian Government to extend the implementation period of the national project after 2024.
Among the problems hindering the development of tourism, the senator mentioned the lack of government regulation of the guest houses’ activities. The corresponding draft law has been submitted to the State Duma as part of such an experiment to be held in a number of regions.
Sangadzhi Tarbaev, chairman of the State Duma’s Committee on Tourism and Development of Tourist Infrastructure, drew the deputies’ attention to the fact that the number of tourists who used collective accommodation facilities increased by 16% in this summer season compared to the same period last year. “The number of passengers traveling by air increased by 11%, and those traveling by railway - by 7%.” According to the deputy, the Russians started traveling and spending more money on tourism. Particularly popular destinations are Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kazan, and the resorts of the Kavminvod area and the Krasnodar Territory.
Sangadzhi Tarbaev named the creation of “new attractions” among the promising tourism tasks. Large-scale projects like the interregional tourist route “Great Volga Road” passing through the Volga Federal District should contribute to this. “The process is still very slow. It is necessary to make calculations for the programs, regional initiatives and determine the load on the regional budgets as well as to take into account the interests of the business community and make decision about the possible government support within the programs for subsidizing the manufacture of ships and creating the required infrastructure: berths, dredging, etc. Not only the Ministry of Economic Development, but also the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Ministry of Construction should participate in the programs.”
The deputy reported on the initiative being developed aimed at introducing a zero VAT for cruise ships. “We think that this support measure will help in launching the cruise service on the Volga River, among other things,” he noted.
Another important area is the development of tourist routes. “Trails are a ready-made tourism product that can become an attraction in almost every region. However, the legislation still does not clearly define this tourism segment. In my opinion, there are all the components for a relevant draft law to be adopted in the near future,” said the chairman of the State Duma’s Committee on Tourism.
He spoke about the work on a new law on tourism that should create the basis of the legislative support for the tourism industry and ensure solutions to pressing issues facing the tourism industry. “We hope that we will be able to introduce this draft law into the agenda at the spring session of 2024. During the current session, the work will be carried out to develop a portfolio of amendments to be introduced to the current legislation to bring them in line with the new law and ensure a seamless transition in terms of the legal and regulatory framework.”
As for the prospects for the development of tourism, Sangadzhi Tarbaev told that the revenues from tourism in many countries reach 10% of their GDPs, in our country this figure is 2.5%. “To become a leading tourism power, Turkey has invested $100 bn in the development of its infrastructure,” the deputy said.
Senator from the Murmansk Region Konstantin Dolgov informed about preparing the amendments to the Federal Law on Special Economic Zones aimed at extending a similar regime to the construction, reconstruction, operation of airport infrastructure, as well as the capital construction and operation of housing facilities and apartments. According to the senator, this will help resolve issues related to the development of the tourism infrastructure. He also raised the topic of amendments to the legislation regulating “snowmobile and all-terrain tourism”. The senator considers it advisable to introduce such notions as “snowmobile tourism” and “snowmobile track” into the legislation and give the right to drive snowmobiles to those who have a permit to drive vehicles or a driver’s license of any category. “I propose to work on this issue within the interdepartmental working group.”
Konstantin Dolgov believes that we need, first of all, high-quality infrastructure and reliable mobile communication for the development of auto-tourism and comfortable and safe traveling by cars in Russia. “The number of people who prefer traveling by their own cars grows every year; this type of traveling on vacations is now among the top five most popular ones in Russia. I consider it necessary to consider the possibility of building modern roadside infrastructure in some pilot regions of the country, and then use their experience to other regions,” the senator said.
According to Vladimir Trach, director of the Department for the Implementation of Tourism Projects (with the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation), the plans are to develop a project for creating multi-purpose roadside service zones, providing the opportunity to stop to have some rest, have a meal and stay overnight. In total, the plans are to set up about 200 multi-purpose zones on federal and most popular regional highways. According to industry players and experts, this project will help attract more investors within the framework of public-private partnerships.
Vladimir Trach also announced the development of a single subsidy combining four existing financial support measures, including the support for creating a tourist code for the area, equipping beaches and national tourist routes, and organizing various tourism events. “A single subsidy will allow the regions to independently distribute the funds taking into account their specific needs, to strengthen support measures in those areas that are of importance for a particular region.”
