Russia has a great offering of tourism, and after reading this blog you will get the complete picture of the Russian travel market and what it has to offer tourists and tourism professionals.

1. Governmental Bodies for tourism

The Federal Agency for Tourism (Rosturizm) is a federal executive authority responsible for the development of tourism.

Visit Russia is a network of Russian national marketing offices operating over the world. Currently, there are over 10 offices with an expansion plan to open an additional 40.

There are agencies responsible for tourism development on a regional level. Russian regions and cities have their own centers for tourism development and visitors’ centers provide information on local tourist sites and programs. A visitors’ center is the first point of call for tourists to get all the information they need about the place they are visiting. These are available in any city or region in Russia. The national website Russia.travel details what’s on offer for tourists in Russia. It is available in many languages from English to Japanese.

2. Obtaining a Russian visa

Citizens from certain countries are able to travel to Russia visa-free. See the countries which need to obtain a visa before visiting.

Visas for World FIFA 2018

World FIFA 2018 provides a Fan ID which gives any country a unique opportunity to visit Russia visa-free. With a Fan ID you can stay in the country for a rather long period (10 days before the Championship and 10 days after it). This is time enough to travel through the whole of Russia from Kaliningrad to the Far East.

All information on the rules of entering Russia in the period of the FIFA World Cup as well as information about the regions where the games will be held can be found on russiadays.travel. During the World FIFA Cup 2018, you will also be able to ask your questions and get the answers from Profi.Travel consultants on related regional tours, infrastructure, logistics, the rules of entry or find the necessary contacts of people responsible for the reception of fans in Russia.

Russiadays.travel has been created by Profi.travel, the company involved in professional promotion of tours and destinations in the Russian travel market and is a leading b2b platform for tourism in Russia and CIS countries. All the materials on russiadays.travel are translated to English and Chinese.

3. Types of Tourism in Russia

All Russian regions have their own tourist attractions, they are all worth visiting and can make your trip an unforgettable experience.

Beaches

There are beaches on the Baltic shore (Kaliningrad) and on the shore of the Black Sea (Sochi and the Krasnodar Krai), as well as in the Russian Far East, which also provides excellent opportunities for beach leisure.

Active Leisure

Russia provides excellent opportunities for those who are fond of skiing, those that rival European ones! These include Krasnaya Polyana in the Krasnodar Krai, Abzakovo Ski Resort in Bashkortostan and Sheregesh Ski Resort in the South of Western Siberia (the Kemerovo Oblast).

MICE

Russia possesses all required infrastructure for MICE travel and can handle high level meetings and events. The G20 Forum, the Summits of SCO and BRICS0, the Eastern Economic Forum and the UNWTO General Assembly take place in St. Petersburg.

Gastronomy Tourism

Traditional Russian Cuisine is certainly represented everywhere in the country, but Russia is known for its ethnic diversity, and with that comes unique traditional cuisine from across the globe. This includes Tatarstan, Bashkortostan, Chuvashia, Mordovia, Mari El, Chechnya, Dagestan, Buryatia, Ingushetia, Adygea and more! It’s impossible to visit Russia without trying the national cuisine.

4. Accommodation

Accommodation options vary from hostels to luxurious five star hotels, depending on the guests’ budget requirements.

Many Russian cities can offer different world hotel brands e.g. Hilton, Hyatt, Novotel, Sheraton, Park Inn, Marriott, Azimut etc., historical and boutique hotels e.g. Metropol, Petroff Palace Hotel‎ in Moscow to affordable hostels, apartments and more!

5. Transport

Despite the long distances in Russia, there are well-developed transport links between the major tourist centers.  You can easily plan your journey and if there are any difficulties, regional operators will always help you to get to where you need to go.

Air

Tourists have many options for travelling to Russia by air. International airlines Lufthansa, Emirates, Singapore Airlines, Swiss, Easy Jet, Wizz Air, Turkish Airlines, Check Airlines, Finnair, Alitalia and other foreign carriers, including low cost ones have regular flights to Russia. Among the large Russian air carriers there are Aeroflot, Ural Airlines, S7, Utair and so on. Take a look at the Russian Airports Map.

Rail

Russia has a fantastic rail network. RZhD is a monopolist in the Russian market, which is an advantage for foreign travelers as it’s possible to book all rail tickets in one place. The RZhD website  is available in the English language.

For tourists with high aspirations, the Trans-Siberian rail network offers travelers a comfortable compartment during their trip along the famous route.

Bus

Due to long distances, it’s difficult to tour Russia by bus. Bus routes are either concentrated on the most popular local sight-seeing routes, like the Golden Ring of Russia or the Great Volga. Alternatively, there are radial excursions from Moscow, St.Petersburg, Kazan, Ekaterinburg and other big cities.

Taxis

Besides the local public transport, the cities provide great taxi services including international companies like Uber, Gett and the Russian mobile service YandexTaxi, and other local services. A car transfer may be booked either privately or with a tour operator.

6. Russian Tour Operators

Today there are several types of tour operators in Russia: big national tour operators working all over Russia e.g. Intourist, Tari Tour, KMP Group, Academservice, etc. and regional tour operators, such as Visit Ural and Argo. They sell their tours locally within a certain region. To be a tour operator in Russia, it is essential to provide financial guarantees as it is an operator’s liability insurance before the tourists. The number of tour operators in Russia is controlled by the government. There is a Registry of Tour Operators, including over 3 thousand companies receiving tourists in Russia.

 

In this article, we have briefly explained how the Russian travel market is organised. If you still have any questions about travelling to Russia, especially in the period of the World FIFA Cup 2018, please don’t hesitate to contact us via our online information portal on RUSSIADAYS.TRAVEL. We are here to answer your questions!

 

Guest Author

Nadja Ebel, Editorial Director in Profi.Travel
Nadja has worked in the tourism industry for 9 years and by the age of 33 has visited 33 countries and +500 hotels. She has worked in tourism for more than 8 years as Editorial Director at Profi Travel  – a professional portal for travel trade from Russia, CIS and Baltic countries.

Find out more about media holding at marketing.profi.travel   //   E-mail: n.ebel@profi.travel