Russia’s reputation as a safe tourist destination increased the number of visitors by 20% in a year, with Arctic tourism particularly popular among the Chinese
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The increase was mostly due to tourists from Asia and Southern Europe, the Federal Tourism Agency told Izvestia, with Russia considered the safest destination.
According to estimates by the Deputy Head of the Federal Tourism Agency Sergei Korneev, Russia is among the top ten most visited countries. In 2015, almost 27 million foreign tourists visited Russia, and it is expected that about 1.5 million people will come for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
The Federal Tourism Agency summed up the work of the VisitRussia tourist offices exclusively for Izvestia, elaborating on how they promote Russia abroad today.
“We suggest to our foreign partners, in particular Europeans, that Russia is the most stable and safe country in the world. Recently, when we made a presentation of our tourist opportunities in Spain, Spanish and French attendees said safety was very important for them. Clients of European tourist agencies come to our offices and literally ask us to point a finger at any place on the map that doesn’t have political or military disasters."
Foreign tourists are traditionally interested in Moscow and Saint Petersburg, but lately Kazan, which became the third tourist capital of Russia, Sochi – “the southern capital”, the Altai territory, Karelia, Novgorod and the regions of Yaroslav and Kaliningrad joined the list.
— Thanks to our office in the People’s Republic of China, we learned that Arctic tourism is popular there. Of course, it is not massive yet, but our tour operators are organizing trips for the Chinese to Arkhangelsk, the Nenets Autonomous Area, and Murmansk.– The Chinese believe seeing an aurora brings luck, and they go to Manchuria to see it. Aurora’s are quite rare there but they happen often here.
This post first appeared on Russia Insider
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