Inbound tourism is a trip organized for foreigners, serving foreign tourists.
“Colorful Russian estates or monotonous Siberia - foreign tourists know little about Russia,” travel industry professionals regret. Of course, we are no longer talking about the fallacy of foreign inhabitants from the category: in the Russian Federation, bears walk the streets, and the Russians feed them with their hands. This is the rudiment of ideas about Russia, however, as is the opinion that for fifteen years nothing has changed in the country in the field of tourism services. Inbound tourism in the Russian Federation should fundamentally change these judgments, subject to a competent approach to the development of new routes.
The concept
The synonym for inbound tourism is the English word inking. This system has its own tools for promoting tourism products, but not as developed as in the internal aspect. The inbound tourism market includes business destinations or sightseeing.
The dynamics of tourist flows
The number of tourists in Russia grew at a good pace until 2014. Then there was a recession associated with a decrease in business tourist flow due to the aggravation of foreign policy relations. But in 2015, the influx of travelers recovered slightly. Rosstat cites the following growth dynamics of foreign visitors who have indicated “tourism” as the goal of their visit to Russia:
- 2011 - 2,335,977 people;
- 2012 - 2,570,469 people;
- 2013 - 2 664 782 people;
- 2014 - 2 583 079 people;
- 2015 - about 3 million foreigners.
Almost three years ago, Rosstat began to consider foreigners in Russia according to the amended scheme, that is, switched to an accounting system developed by the World Tourism Organization, used by all countries. A tourist is someone who comes to Russia to spend money. According to this system, already in 2015 it was possible to talk about almost three million foreigners. In 2016, positive dynamics were also noted.
What holds back the flow of tourists to Russia
Tourism industry experts say that foreign tourists have not decreased, they just began to spend less and are more selective in choosing services. Experts name the factors hindering the development of inbound tourism in Russia:
- insufficient development of international air traffic;
- visa restrictions;
- security questions;
- high package price;
- low level of service;
- poor infrastructure;
- foreign policy tension;
- not enough information about holidays in Russia.
Positive factors
The situation with inbound tourism is still changing. Today, this type of travel is considered a trend, and travel industry professionals are promoting Russia's travel opportunities in the world. For the state, the advantages of inbound tourism, bringing direct investment, as well as jobs in the subjects of the federation, are obvious. In addition, a steady tourist flow stimulates the development of tourism market infrastructure.
The favorable situation with inbound tourism is associated with:
- the introduction of a facilitated visa regime;
- the advent of the tourist police ;
- the development of infrastructures not only in the capital, but also in the regions;
- the creation of national tourist centers NTO Visit Russia in various countries of the world to present image information about Russia.
Featured Routes
The Soviet tourist company Intourist in the eighties, taking into account the peculiarities of inbound tourism, developed a hundred routes that are of interest to foreign tourists.
- Moscow, Saint Petersburg.
- Moscow - The Golden Ring of Russia.
- Trans-Siberian Express.
- Tea way.
- The Great Volga Way.
- River cruises.
In the organization of inbound tourism, tour operators now have to revive these areas, but so far only popular tourism products are in demand. Tourist opportunities of the regions are presented rather sparingly, only two percent.
Inbound Tourism Strategy
Moscow and St. Petersburg can no longer remain the only centers of attraction for foreigners, including due to insufficient infrastructure: often there are not enough buses or tickets to museums. Tourism market professionals offer:
- To develop a new mechanism for the formation of a tourist destination. For example, Moscow or St. Petersburg as large recognizable cities and starting points of the route; further - moving to other regions.
- Create new brand routes connecting regions. For example, "Silver Necklace of Russia." This area includes eleven entities with ethnographic, cultural and historical points.
- Create a single full-fledged portal of tourist Russia, combining all the offers for foreign visitors.
Brand rules in tourism
The modern tourism market offers not only organized tours, but also individual solutions depending on the purpose of the trip. The more flexible the offers, the more interesting they are to the tourist. Tourist flows are different, and the subtleties of tourism should not be missed. The Russian Federation can be in demand by creating brands from cultural or natural centers, filling their images with tourist products. For tourists, the boundaries of the subjects of the federation are not important; they come for the object.
In addition to the metropolitan regions, Baikal, Siberia or Kamchatka may open for foreigners; noble estates, fishing ponds or reserves. The tourism industry believes that today favorable conditions are forming for the advancement of Russia abroad.
Where tourists come to Russia
Russia is one of the ten most visited countries in the world, but lags far behind France, the USA, Spain and Turkey. By the number of tourists coming to Russia, the leader is China.
Foreign tourists in Russia:
- European Union - thirty-seven percent;
- Asia - thirty-three percent (China - twenty-three percent);
- Southeast Asia and Australia — two percent;
- CIS - five percent;
- The Middle East - twelve percent;
- The United States is eleven percent.
The interest of Iranian and Indian citizens is growing in tourism in Russia. The strategic interests of the Russian Federation in the inbound tourism segment are directed to Iran, India and Vietnam.
Income from foreign tourists
The World Tourism Organization annually publishes country income from inbound tourism. It follows from them that Russia is ahead of smaller countries. Moreover, it’s much more difficult to get to some than to the Russian Federation:
- USA - two hundred four billion dollars;
- Germany - almost thirty-seven billion dollars;
- France - almost forty-six billion dollars;
- Spain - fifty six and a half billion dollars;
- Russia - eight and a half billion dollars;
- China - one hundred and fourteen billion dollars;
- South Africa - just over eight billion dollars;
- New Zealand - almost nine billion dollars.
Russian tourists spend four times more than foreigners in Russia. Competition with countries that have long recognized the benefits of inbound tourism makes it necessary to increase funds in this segment.
Regional markets for foreign tourists
Offering the development of inbound tourism outside the metropolitan regions, tourism experts note the inability of entities to offer quality services to foreign tourists. This applies not only to the development of the route, but also to basic trifles. Regional tourism should be complemented by staff - especially guides who know at least English.
Today, in subjects attractive to tourists, it is rarely possible to find bilingual menus or hotel booklets for foreigners.
In which regions are more foreign tourists
The share of foreigners in the hotels of the Russian Federation is more than eleven percent, that is, about six million people. However, the distribution of tourists in cities is uneven. More than half live in Moscow - thirty-five percent of the total number of guests, just over two million people. The share of foreigners in St. Petersburg is thirty-three percent of the total number of guests, more than a million people. Interestingly, the number of foreign tourists is not always proportional to the internal tourist flow.
Regions of interest to foreigners
If we compare the indicators of domestic and inbound tourism, the results will be as follows:
- Primorsky Krai: Russians - 813 511, foreigners - 145 483;
- Irkutsk Oblast: Russians - 848572, foreigners - 124 901;
- Sverdlovsk Region: Russians - 1,079,998, foreigners - 79,997;
- Tatarstan: Russians - 1,680,475; foreigners - 101,980;
- Vladimir region: Russians - 535, foreigners - 88 845;
- Yaroslavl region: Russians - 633 984, foreigners - 48 845.
Tools for attracting tourist flow
The increase in tourist flows is influenced by: a developed hotel base, modern airports and the active promotion of tourist offers at the international level, including during major world events.
In 2018, such an event will be the World Cup, which hosts Russia. And already in the stages of preparation for it, the country's promotion for tourism begins.
Games will be held in twelve stadiums in eleven cities of the Russian Federation. According to experts, the World Cup can attract up to 1.5 million foreigners, including due to visa-free travel according to the fan's passport and the FIFA list. Each tourist can spend an average of about a thousand dollars in Russia.
Specialists of the visit Russia offices of the tourist centers NTO Visit Russia conduct a series of presentations about the country, and develop programs to inform foreigners about the tourist opportunities in Russia. The championship poses new challenges for the tourism business, this is a unique opportunity to talk about Russian cities and make tourist advertisements throughout the country.
From the Baltic to the Kuril Islands, from the Arctic to the mountains of the Caucasus
About Russian tourism in ignorance is not only foreigners. Basically, Russians know only about iconic tourist routes, not knowing how many places in Russia are breathtaking:
- Kungur cave in the Perm Territory - 148 vertical through mines.
- Valley of lotuses on the Volga.
- Stalin's bunker in Samara - 12 floors, there is an elevator.
- Dancing forest with an ecological trail.
- Kargopol is an ancient city decorated with 11 white-stone temples.
- The sunken city of Mologa, 32 km from Rybinsk.
- Alaid Volcano on Atlasova Island.
- Wrangel Island is a nature reserve in which there are about four dozen plants and animals not found anywhere else.
- Kapova cave - about 200 drawings of primitive people.
- Champ Island with round stones.
- The Whale Alley in Chukotka is an ancient Eskimo sanctuary.
- Pillars of weathering in Komi.
- Char sands with ridges of dunes up to 25 meters high.
- Museum of the World Ocean in Kaliningrad.
Over the past three years, the domestic tourism market has changed significantly: tourist niches have formed, the main players in the tourism business have been identified, and new tourism products are emerging in the regions. Domestic and inbound tourism can develop in one direction, in a single infrastructure, but they should be aimed at different travelers - domestic and foreign. This does not concern routes, experts say, but the intricacies of tourism, such as language conditions and a facilitated visa regime. Other factors promoting the tourism products of Russia, such as ensuring safety and comfortable passenger traffic, are equally necessary for consumers of this complex of services offered to travelers from different parts of the world.