Russia’s Tourism Potential

Posted by Amanda Kendle Mar 22, 2006

A report from the World Travel and Tourism Council released this week is suggesting that the potential for tourism and travelers in Russia is a whole lot higher than the current figures show.

The study looked at spending on tourist needs like accommodation and tours is so low in Russia that it ranks in 156th place from 173 countries surveyed - and eighty percent of this spending occurs in the two main cities of Moscow and St Petersburg. Suggestions from the report including introducing special tax zones for high potential tourism zones like Lake Baikal, and increasing the spending on promotion of Russia as a tourist destination.

Of course, progress is progress, and Russia will probably improve its relations with tourism regardless of my opinion - but I still can't help but think it could be a shame. For me, part of the charm of Russia is that it isn't really tourist friendly - there's no centralized tourist offices in every city where you can pick up maps and advice, for example - and that makes it often more interesting to travel around. Interesting but, of course, more difficult!