There are more and more tourists in St. Petersburg - mainly from Russia

In 2022, 7.74 million Russian tourists visited Petersburg.

Most of Turkey is in Asia, but Istanbul is partially located in Europe

This indicator takes into account both Chinese trips to Russia and Russians trips to China.

In August, electronic visas were launched in Russia, and in the fall for foreign tourists they want to develop virtual payment cards, which should solve the problem of Visa and MasterCard not working in the country.

"Paper" studied the statistics and opinions of representatives of the industry. We tell you what other measures take to return tourists from other countries and why travelers from far abroad are important for the St. Petersburg economy.

Tourism for city authorities is an important topic. In 2022, the tourist flow to St. Petersburg grew, but only at the expense of Russians

At the end of June, Smolny discussed the implementation of the program “Development of the tourism sector in St. Petersburg” - officials said that the tourist flow to the city - including Russians and foreigners - was growing. For example, in 2022, the city was visited by 33 % more tourists than a year earlier. The trend in the growth of tourist flow was preserved in 2023: over 4 million tourists visited Petersburg in the first half of the year, which is 10 % higher than last year last year.

The attention of the city authorities to the tourism sector is not surprising: according to Smolny data, in 2022, tourism brought to the St. Petersburg economy more than 366 billion rubles . The methodology of this calculation is not disclosed, however, it follows from the explanations of the Tourism Development Committee that the calculation took into account the financial indicators of hotels, public catering establishments and other industries.

In addition, the tourism sector generates new jobs, the city government notes. “The income of each 12th employed in St. Petersburg is more or less related to the tourism sector. One workplace in tourism creates 3.5 workplaces in related sectors, ”officials say .

The head of the Smolny relevant committee, Sergei Korneev, expects that at the end of the year the tourist flow to St. Petersburg will grow by 5-7 % for last year's indicators. For the first time with this forecast, he spoke in the spring, and at the beginning of summer he again called the same numbers. “But a lot will depend on the restoration of international tourism,” Korneev said.

Governor Alexander Beglov also spoke about the need to promote the tourist brand of St. Petersburg “in the countries of the CIS and friendly countries of the far abroad”. According to him, the results of such work are already visible, and the number of tourists from Turkey, Iran, India and the UAE is growing in the city. What data is based on the governor, it is not known - so far there is no such statistics in St. Petersburg.

Foreign tourists became sharply smaller because of the pandemic. In recent years, the indicator has grown slightly, but far from the previous numbers

The Tourism Development Committee did not respond to the request of “Paper” about the methods of attracting foreign tourists. From the presentation of the St. Petersburg government on the development of tourism in the city it follows that the number of foreign tourists in St. Petersburg decreased in 2020 amid the Pandemia of Koronavirus. The tourist flow to the city from abroad then decreased by almost ten times: from 4.9 to 0.5 million people.

In 2022-2023, foreign tourists in the city became a little more compared to 2021, however, only 173 thousand tourists from abroad visited the indicators of 2019-according to Smolny data, in the first half of the 2023th Petersburg.

Intra -Russian tourism in a pandemic did not fall so significantly - from 5.5 to 2.4 million people. In addition, already in 2021, the tourist flow from other Russian regions returned to the dopandemic indicators, and in 2022-exceeded them by almost a half times .

Experts explain the growth of domestic tourism primarily by external conjuncture: free movement between countries was violated during the pandemic, and after the outbreak of war in Ukraine, the European Union has complicated the process of obtaining visas for Russians. In addition, tickets for foreign flights have risen in price, so trips around Russia remained for many Russians the only affordable type of tourism.

As a result, the share of foreign citizens in tourist flow decreased sharply: in 2019, they made up 47.1 % of all tourists, and in 2022-only 4.2 %.

Tourists from abroad are important, as they spend more money in the city than Russians

The importance of foreign tourists for the St. Petersburg economy is illustrated by another document of the Tourism Development Committee on the results of 2022. This presentation says that foreign tourists more often Russians remain in the city for a long time. For example, only 9.5 % of Russian tourists come to St. Petersburg for ten days or more. For tourists from the countries closest to Russia, the same indicator is 18.9 %, and for tourists from far abroad - 17.8 %.

In addition, tourists from abroad have more income and can spend more money in the city: according to sociological surveys, only 8.3 % of Russian tourists who come to St. Petersburg have an income exceeding 100 thousand rubles per family member. Among tourists from near abroad, 14.4 % of respondents have similar income, among tourists from far abroad - 62.4 % of guests of St. Petersburg.

These data are confirmed by statistics on spending tourists of different categories.

However, it is difficult to involve in St. Petersburg in St. Petersburg because of logistics difficulties-direct flights associate Pulkovo with only three European cities: Minsk, Belgrade and Istanbul .

As a result, in comparison with the new year 2019, Europeans practically ceased to come to Russia, the FSB border services indicated. For example, for the whole of 2019, more than 520 thousand tourists from Germany and almost 155 thousand French tourists arrived in the country. In 2022, a total of less than 29 thousand people arrived from these countries to Russia, declaring tourism as the purpose of the trip.

Given this, “key future partners” in the presentation of the St. Petersburg Tourism Development Committee are called “CIS countries, the Great Middle East, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean”. However, statistics on entrances to the country have not yet confirmed the optimism of officials: according to the FSB border services, about 5 thousand tourists from the UAE arrived in Russia for the entire 2022. About the same number of tourists from this country came to the country for the first half of 2023.

In 2019, a tourist flow from the UAE to Russia exceeded 23 thousand people.

A tourist flow from China collapsed from 1.5 million to a thousand people. But the authorities expect to restore it

Before the ends of the late 2010s, the tourist flow from China is far from, although there are direct flights from St. Petersburg to some cities of the PRC. In 2019, almost 1.5 million Chinese tourists arrived in the country, in 2022 this figure was less than a thousand people. In the first and second quarters of 2023, 32.3 thousand Chinese tourists arrived in Russia.

However, the Ministry of Economic Development is counting on "an early return to the numbers that were in additional times." The department believes that according to the results of 2023, a mutual tourist flow between Russia and China will be about 500 thousand people.

The authorities have already taken some measures aimed at restoring the tourist flow from China - for example, the Russian Federation and the PRC restored direct air traffic and resumed an agreement on visa -free group tourist trips. A similar agreement can be concluded with India, said the head of the Ministry of Economic Development Maxim Reshetnikov.

“[Group visa-free trips] will be cheaper by about 20-30 % compared to conventional individual reservations,” the representative of the Ministry of Economic Development Nikita Kondratyev explained the meaning of this step.

However, experts in the field of the tourism market have repeatedly expressed doubts that the tourist flow from China will reach 2019 indicators in the near future. The reasons for this skepticism were listed “ RBC ”: for example, in Russia, problems with the cards of the Chinese payment system Union Pay are preserved.

In addition, there are still not enough flights between the countries: according to the vice president of the Russian Union of Train industry Dmitry Gorin, to satisfy demand, it is necessary to launch about 200 flights weekly. At the beginning of 2023, there were ten times less, while the prices of air tickets increased significantly.

In addition, experts believe that earlier the city economy did not receive money from Chinese tourists. “Previously, Chinese guides, transport companies, drivers, and cafes used to earn. Accordingly, they received everything, and the country and business are not very many, with the exception of hotels, ”said Alexei Musakin, vice-president of the Russian hotel association.

Fontanka and the head of the Center for the Study of the Far East of St. Petersburg Kirill Kotkov told about the same problem. “In our country, there are no protectionist measures to protect our citizens. In Egypt, for example, only an Egyptian in the third generation can become a guide. So they protect their market. And we have a reception of Chinese tourists in the end concentrated in the hands of the Chinese themselves. [...] And the money that Chinese tourists brought, they spent in Chinese restaurants, in Chinese stores, ”he explained.

According to Kotkov, this situation may also be preserved in the future: “Given that now China is positioned as the main ally of Russia, it is possible that [...] the Chinese will be put in the position of sacred cows, and our specialists will be forbidden to approach them.”

The Tourism Development Committee noted that this problem will help to solve the Federal Law on Hydroes-Transers , according to which only certified specialists can serve foreign tourists. And additional income to the city will provide a resort fee, which in St. Petersburg will be launched in 2024 .

Tourists in St. Petersburg will now pay a resort fee 💰

What amount are we talking about and who will it affect?

From August 1, electronic visas have been earned in Russia. It is still impossible to evaluate their influence on a tourist flow, but market participants are optimistic

Electronic visas should also help the return of foreign tourists - they were launched throughout Russia from August 1, 2023. You can draw up this document on the website of the Russian Foreign Ministry , the cost of a visa for one tourist is $ 52.

By electronic visas, foreigners can come to Russia once - within 60 days after its design. The duration of the trip should not exceed 16 days, the offer is available to citizens of 55 states , including residents of European countries.

Representatives of Russian tour operators are confident that electronic visas can seriously affect the interest of foreign tourists in Russia: it is easier and faster to arrange them, and the consular fee is less. “There is a demand for trips to Russia. Foreign partners immediately after the appearance of the news showed a keen interest. Especially the Chinese tourist business, since now a visa in the Russian Federation for Chinese tourists costs $ 150-200, and the reduction of it up to $ 50 will greatly facilitate the tourists to make a decision on the trip, ”the general director of the Petersburg host, Alexander Flit, told Interfax .

It will be possible to evaluate the effect of electronic visas on the tourist flow no earlier than October, when statistics for the third quarter are published. However, the director of the North-Western regional branch of the Russian Union of Trade of Trade, Ekaterina Shadskaya, considers the mitigation of the visa barrier the most important step for the tourism industry. “The experiments that were also conducted in St. Petersburg confirmed that foreign tourists were much more willing to our country as soon as the visa design procedure became easier,” she said.

Other measures can raise a tourist flow, but experts do not wait for quick results

The vice-president of the Russian hotel association, Alexei Musakin, also positively appreciated the introduction of electronic visas, but added that for the full growth of tourist flow, it is necessary to solve the problem with payment instruments for foreigners in Russia.

One of the options is the project "Tourist Map", which should earn in the third quarter. With it, foreign tourists will be able to decorate electronic wallets in the Mir payment system, paying the necessary goods and services from them.

Participants in the Russian tourist market also offer other measures that will simplify travel for foreigners. For example, the general manager of The Carlton Moscow Hotel Oksana Leonenko considers the necessary abolition of the limit for the import of currency to Russia - now it is 10 thousand dollars.

“Iranians and Indians come to huge families, but no one wants to contact the“ red corridors ”at customs. Let's give the opportunity to import money and spend it with pleasure, ”she explained. And the director of the Center for the Development of the Regional Economics and the Urban Environment of Strategic Initiatives to promote new projects (ASI) Olga Zakharova offers to more actively promote Russia abroad: in her opinion, there should be more information in foreign languages ​​on tourist sites.

In any case, experts do not expect the measures used now will give a quick result. “We fell out of the interest of a European and overseas tourist. To switch to the opposite side, it takes time, ”Vice-President of the Federation of restaurateurs and hoteliers of the northwest Leonid Garbar told Vedomosti . “I would like to see more tourists from India, the Middle East, Chinese tourists from large cities. But these are complex markets. We have to adapt a tourist product, ”the Vice President of the St. Petersburg Chamber of Commerce and Industry Ekaterina Lebedeva agrees with it .

Representatives of the Russian Foreign Ministry also do not expect that the launch of electronic visas will help to significantly increase the tourist flow in the short term. “This is a measure that will have a tangible effect in terms of increasing the entrance flow into Russia only in the future, as other available problems are solved. Obviously, the development of inbound tourism is now hindered, first of all, complex transport logistics and the high cost of tickets, ” said Alexei Klimov, director of the consular department of the Ministry.

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