Foreign tourist flow to Russia in 2019 could grow by 5-10%

ASTRAKHAN, February 26. /TASS/. Foreign tourist flow to Russia in 2019 can grow by 5-10% compared with the past year, Deputy Economic Development Minister Sergey Galkin told reporters on Tuesday. "The inbound tourism is growing. Specifically, this year we still do not see a big increase, the forecast is maybe plus 5-10%. It depends on various factors, including geopolitical ones," he said. Galkin believes that expanding the practice of issuing electronic visas to foreigners in the future may increase the incoming tourist flow to Russia by 20-30%. "Our main goal is to reduce administrative barriers and visa formalities so that visas can be obtained more easily, more quickly. Basic estimates are up to 30% (for growth of foreign tourist traffic due to electronic visas - TASS). If we are talking about the development of basic tourist infrastructure in the host regions, of course, this potential will be even greater. In general, we see growth prospects of 20-30% at least," Galkin said. Advisor to head of the Federal Agency for Tourism Andrey Monakov told TASS earlier that Russia’s inbound tourism flow is on track to grow by 15% thanks to Russia-hosted 2018 FIFA World Cup. According to Monakov, the Agency plans to assume measures to keep Russia’s inbound tourism flow from declining further on. Read more