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Tourism in Russia

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St. Basil's CathedralinRed Square

Tourism in Russiaplummeted in 2022. Only 200,100 foreigners visited Russia in 2022, a drop of 96.1% from pre-pandemic/pre-Russian invasion of Ukraineyears.[1]Earlier, Russia had seen rapid growth since the late Soviet times, first domestic tourism and theninternational tourismas well.[2]Russia had formerly been among themost popular tourist destinationsin the world, though it fell off that list in 2022. Not includingCrimea,the countrycontains 23 UNESCO World Heritage Sites,while more are on UNESCO's tentative lists.[3]

Tourist routes in Russia include a travel around theGolden Ringof ancient cities, cruises on the rivers including theVolga,and long journeys on theTrans-Siberian Railway.Diverse regions and ethnic cultures of Russia offer different foods and souvenirs, and show a variety of traditions, includingRussianMaslenitsa,TatarSabantuy,orSiberianshamanistrituals. 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[edit]

After the2022 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[edit]

Kizhiin north-west Russia
Bolshaya Pokrovskaya StreetinNizhny 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, recognized asWorld Cities.Moscow and Saint Petersburg museums such asHermitageandTretyakov Gallery,theaters includingBolshoiandMariinsky,churches such asSaint Basil's Cathedral,Cathedral of Christ the Saviour,Saint Isaac's CathedralandChurch of the Savior on Blood,fortifications such asMoscow KremlinandPeter and Paul Fortress,squares such asRed SquareandPalace Square,and streets such asTverskayaandNevsky Prospect.Palaces and parks are found in the formerimperial residencesin the suburbs of Moscow (Kolomenskoye,Tsaritsyno) and Saint Petersburg (Peterhof,Strelna,Oranienbaum,Gatchina,Pavlovsk Palace,Tsarskoye Selo). Moscow contains Soviet-era buildings along withmodern skyscrapers,while Saint Petersburg has classical architecture, rivers, channels andbridges.[citation needed]

Grand Cascade inPeterhofinSaint Petersburg

Nizhny Novgorodis the capital of theVolga region.Nizhny Novgorod is divided into two parts by theOka River.TheUpper Cityis its historical part. TheLower Cityis its industrial and commercial part. Here are theFair,the oldSormovoand Kanavino,GAZand Sotsgorod (the so-called "city in the city" ), therailway terminal,and theairport.[citation needed]

Kazan, the capital ofTatarstan,shows a mix of Christian Russian andMuslimTatarcultures.[citation needed]

Sakha Republicproposes to use former forced labour camps as a tourist attraction.[7] Poles visit places of Communist crimes, e.g., of theKatyn massacreandSolovetsky Islands.[8][9]

Museums[edit]

Russia is home to museums that include theTretyakov Gallery,theKremlin Armouryand theState Historical Museumin Moscow, theHermitage Museum,and theRussian Museumin St Petersburg, theKazan Kremlinin Kazan, etc.[citation needed]Russia has museums related to its literary and classical music heritage, such asYasnaya Polyanaassociated withLeo Tolstoy,theMikhaylovskoye Museum Reserveassociated withAlexander Pushkin,theDostoyevsky Museum,theTchaikovsky State House-Museum,and theRimsky-Korsakov Apartment and Museum.[citation needed]

Museums related to Russia's military history and military hardware include theCentral Museum of the Great Patriotic WaronPoklonnaya Hill,theCentral Naval Museumin St Petersburg, theBattle of Stalingrad Museumin Volgograd.[citation needed]Museums related to science and technology include thePolytechnic Museumof Moscow, and theMemorial Museum of Cosmonautics.

The GULAG History Museum tells the story about theGULAGcamps inSiberia.[10]

TheState Historical Museum
Russian Museum
Museum of the Great Patriotic War, Moscow
TheHermitage Museum

Nature tourism[edit]

In Russia, Nature Reserves have history and it has its own word of definition Zapovedniks (Russian:заповедник,plural заповедники, ) more than100 Nature Reserves exist in Russiaand more than50 National Parks. National parks and sanctuaries of Russia include theBaikal Nature Reserve,theAltai Nature Reserve,theLazovsky Nature Reserve,theKedrovaya Pad Nature Reserve,theCuronian SpitNational Park, theValdaysky National Park,theBaikal-Lena Nature Reserve,theIlmen Nature Reserve. TheSeven Wonders of RussiaincludeLake Baikal,Valley of Geysers,Manpupuner rock formations,Kizhi Island,andMount Elbrus Other areas includeRepublic of AdygeawhereFisht Mountainis located, Chechnya Republic whereLake Kezenoyamis located.[11]

TheValley of GeysersinKamchatka Peninsula
Lake Baikal,the deepest lake in the world and the biggest fresh-water lake by volume
Mount Elbruswith its two peaks
TheManpupuner rock formations

Health tourism[edit]

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

Mineral sparesorts have been established across Russia in such regions asKamchatka Krai,Altai Krai,Krasnodar Krai,Stavropol Krai,North Caucasusregion of Russia.[12]Some cites have natural hot spring water during winter and some of Russian cities are called Russian Spa town, includingPyatigorsk,Yessentuki,Kislovodsk,ZheleznovodskandMineralnye Vody;these towns are jointly known as theCaucasian 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 asSochiandTuapse.[citation needed]

Winter sport[edit]

A vast part of Russian territory is inSubarctic climateandhumid continental climate,and that is why it is cold. In addition, Russia is mountainous in regions likeNorthern Caucasus,Altai Kraiand Kamchatka Peninsula. The Highest peak in Europe, Mount Elbrus, is in Russia, which makes Russia a place for Winter sport.Ski resortsare in Russia. A ski resort in Russia is Sochi and itsKrasnaya Polyana.Other ski resorts in Russia areDombayinKarachay–CherkessiainNorthern Caucasus.[citation needed]

TheGornaya KaruselinSochi
Dombay
TheSheregeshinKemerovo Oblast
Igora ski resort

Medical tourism[edit]

Russia is a destination for medical tourism. A factor in its popularity was the relatively weak rublepost-2014,which saw the industry grow from some 110 thousand clients in 2017[13]to some 728 thousand 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 fromthe 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 fertilizationis illegal in China, but legal in Russia.[14]

Religious tourism[edit]

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]

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

Russia has a Buddhist minority.[citation needed]

Foreign travel statistics[edit]

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 istranscludedfromVisa policy of Russia.(edit|history)

According to theBorder Service of the Federal Security Serviceand theFederal State Statistics Service,most visitors arriving to Russia were from the following countries of nationality:[19]

Nationality Total (includes all types of purposes of visits)
2020 2019 2018 2017 2016
Ukraine Decrease3,648,972 Decrease8,646,295 Decrease9,177,272 Increase9,817,008 Decrease9,737,405
Kazakhstan Decrease1,426,727 Increase4,324,856 Increase4,241,244 Decrease4,137,613 Decrease4,686,059
Uzbekistan Decrease720,041 Increase2,588,922 Increase2,354,642 Increase2,350,007 Decrease2,116,480
Abkhazia Decrease414,927 Increase600,399 Increase492,310 Increase436,368 Decrease415,606
Tajikistan Decrease401,888 Increase1,557,148 Decrease1,340,975 Increase1,350,356 Increase1,293,270
Kyrgyzstan Decrease299,611 Increase959,130 Increase859,735 Increase836,946 Decrease792,042
Azerbaijan Decrease269,807 Increase1,175,045 Increase1,145,327 Decrease1,143,243 Increase1,156,703
Armenia Decrease209,812 Decrease816,454 Decrease825,200 Increase857,212 Decrease833,577
Finland Decrease180,110 Decrease938,693 Decrease994,098 Decrease1,063,348 Decrease1,376,646
Belarus Decrease176,601 Increase440,438 Increase403,597 Increase382,022 Decrease320,372
China Decrease155,594 Increase2,257,039 Increase2,030,319 Increase1,780,200 Increase1,565,524
Moldova Decrease154,766 Decrease614,043 Decrease698,027 Increase803,916 Decrease699,112
Philippines Decrease133,414 Increase193,031 Increase179,672 Increase172,278 Decrease160,734
Poland Decrease133,014 Decrease680,382 Decrease728,546 Decrease765,544 Decrease1,056,013
Turkey Decrease132,372 Decrease187,612 Increase196,061 Increase181,285 Decrease120,035
Estonia Decrease105,584 Increase540,062 Increase496,582 Decrease432,803 Increase433,926
Latvia Decrease93,865 Increase365,783 Increase355,641 Decrease330,266 Increase360,603
Stateless persons Decrease74,215 Decrease303,851 Increase327,613 Decrease318,393 Decrease321,383
South Ossetia Decrease70,470 Increase147,355 Increase143,501 Increase137,427 Decrease115,382
Germany Decrease69,456 Increase744,473 Increase701,576 Increase629,082 Increase613,370
Lithuania Decrease57,883 Increase253,950 Decrease243,190 Decrease256,009 Increase281,168
Mongolia Decrease56,625 Decrease394,994 Decrease401,485 Decrease416,293 Increase542,196
Georgia Decrease56,266 Decrease120,086 Increase123,732 Increase117,204 Decrease65,378
India Decrease46,025 Increase180,567 Increase159,865 Increase130,400 Increase108,498
South Korea Decrease42,297 Increase453,796 Increase386,413 Increase276,560 Increase181,024
France Decrease38,391 Increase249,410 Increase236,583 Increase211,673 Increase201,260
Israel Decrease32,402 Increase260,472 Increase228,530 Increase185,426 Increase182,438
Italy Decrease28,432 Increase251,751 Increase225,776 Decrease206,860 Increase208,689
Serbia Decrease26,731 Decrease84,852 Increase96,730 Increase87,899 Increase79,575
United Kingdom Decrease22,471 Decrease194,956 Increase216,029 Increase193,522 Decrease190,278
Turkmenistan Decrease21,680 Increase92,616 Increase82,675 Increase65,749 Increase56,258
Vietnam Decrease19,477 Increase90,565 Increase84,612 Increase77,391 Increase66,939
United States Decrease19,306 Decrease300,933 Increase337,395 Increase293,011 Increase248,990
Japan Decrease16,048 Increase127,696 Increase119,240 Increase114,207 Increase95,675
Netherlands Decrease14,663 Increase84,651 Increase80,540 Increase73,729 Increase68,017
Egypt Decrease13,481 Decrease28,039 Increase39,402
Iran Decrease12,725 Decrease54,469 Decrease61,007 Increase91,862 Increase75,203
Thailand Decrease12,183 Increase72,031 Increase64,898 Increase52,697 Increase32,222
Greece Decrease11,732 Increase44,784 Increase42,967 Decrease41,205 Increase46,730
Bulgaria Decrease10,255 Increase41,083 Increase40,836 Decrease39,191 Increase41,290
Austria Decrease9,977 Increase67,429 Increase64,500 Increase59,501 Decrease56,663
Czech Republic Decrease9,874 Increase57,835 Increase53,739 Increase49,232 Increase47,288
Indonesia Decrease9,671 Increase40,284 Increase31,695 Increase25,425 Increase20,211
Spain Decrease9,565 Increase140,181 Increase123,652 Increase118,642 Increase116,032
Romania Decrease9,335 Increase32,779 Increase29,920 Increase26,330 Decrease23,684
Norway Decrease8,506 Increase52,022 Decrease51,003 Increase53,197 Decrease46,631
Sweden Decrease8,308 Decrease43,198 Increase55,329 Decrease32,095 Decrease39,153
Belgium Decrease7,534 Decrease42,473 Increase48,270 Increase38,868 Increase37,492
Croatia Decrease7,480 Decrease19,243 Increase36,045
Switzerland Decrease7,407 Decrease55,747 Increase59,828 Increase53,167 Increase52,656
Cuba Decrease6,631 Increase29,169 Decrease27,882 Increase30,711 Increase26,667
Hungary Decrease5,680 Increase35,541 Increase32,998 Increase25,659 Increase25,313
Denmark Decrease5,016 24,662 Increase31,308
Total Decreasen/a Increase32,866,265 Increase32,550,677 Increase32,035,443 Decrease31,466,538
Visa statistics

Most visas were issued in the following countries:

Location 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[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^abcde"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.Retrieved16 December2017.
  4. ^"Tourism Highlights 2014"(PDF).E-unwto.org.Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 12 January 2015.Retrieved16 December2017.
  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 fromthe originalon 14 April 2016.Retrieved16 December2017.
  9. ^Itaka, Biuro Podróży."Tajemnice Wysp Sołowieckich – ITAKA".Itaka.pl.Retrieved16 December2017.
  10. ^"GULAG History Museum".gmig.ru.
  11. ^"40 most beautiful places in Russia".Russianblogger.me.Retrieved30 September2015.
  12. ^"Hit the spa Russian style: Mineral springs and hot tub substitutes".2 March 2016.
  13. ^ab"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.Retrieved15 August2021.
  14. ^ab"Какое лечение в России выбирают иностранцы"[What kind of medical treatment do foreigners choose in Russia].ratanews.ru(in Russian). RATA news.Retrieved15 August2021.
  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.PMC7324547.PMID32655455.
  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.Retrieved15 August2021.
  17. ^"Tourism Highlights 2013 edition"(PDF).Dtxtq4w60xqpw.cloudfront.net.Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 27 November 2013.Retrieved27 November2013.
  18. ^"2013 Travel & Tourism Economic Impact Report Russian Federation"(PDF).Wttc.org.Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 2 December 2013.Retrieved27 November2013.
  19. ^"Паспорт набора данных" Визы по странам ""(in Russian). Консульский департамент МИД России. Archived fromthe originalon 9 August 2020.Retrieved15 April2020.

External links[edit]

Wikivoyage has a travel guide forRussia.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tourism_in_Russia&oldid=1227176682"