Tourist trains will run on new routes in the next year and a half
Russian lawmakers intend to simplify the document processing procedures for those visiting the country for tourism purposes. This was announced by Inna Svyatenko, Deputy Chairwoman of the Federation Council and Senator from Moscow, on World Tourism Day.
According to her, mechanisms for group visa-free travel for citizens of China and Iran have already been introduced, as well as short-term (up to 16 days) simplified electronic visas for tourists from 55 countries. As a result, inbound tourism has increased by 40%, and the tourism industry is showing the fastest growth among all sectors of the economy.
Last year, the Russian capital was visited by 24.5 million Russian and foreign tourists. This was facilitated by the creation of a convenient tourist infrastructure and digital services, noted Inna Svyatenko. Moscow is ready to share its experience in the field of tourism and the hospitality industry with all regions, the senator said.
As part of this work, the RussPass portal, developed to facilitate the planning of trips to Moscow, is now available for organizing trips to some other regions, and their list will be expanded.
According to Inna Svyatenko, one of the key areas for the further development of domestic and inbound tourism may be the environmental direction. Our country has a large number of natural locations that are of interest to tourists from different countries of the world. Among them are Baikal, Elbrus, Karelia and the regions of the Russian North, Altai, Crimea, the Caucasus, Primorye, Sakhalin, Chukotka, the Curonian Spit in Kaliningrad, the Ural Mountains and forests of Siberia, Klyuchevskaya Sopka and the Valley of Geysers in Kamchatka.
Currently, the legislators are considering issues of developing the necessary tourist infrastructure, accessible automobile and pedestrian routes, services, and the personnel potential of the industry.
