How Much Money Do Foreigners Spend in Russia?
The Analytical Center under the Government of the Russian Federation conducted a study to find out who goes to the country for tourist purposes, where foreign guests stay and how much they spend.
The results of the “Assessment of the impact of inbound tourism on the Russian economy” are published on the official website of the organization.
The study involved more than 100 representatives of the Russian tourism industry (tour operators, travel agencies, hotels, suppliers of excursion services) from 34 regions of the country.
Experts used statistics from Rosstat, Turstat, the World Tourism Organization, the World Bank.
The average cost per trip for foreigners - (about 8 days) 144 thousand rubles. 23% accounted for housing, international transportation - 24%, 19% - food, domestic passenger transportation - 9%.
That is, on nesting dolls, caviar, magnets and other souvenirs foreigners have about 36 thousand rubles.
Market participants associate the development of the industry with domestic tourism. According to Rosstat, the popularity of Russia as a tourist destination in foreign countries has recently fallen from 26.9 million in 2015 to 24.4 million in 2017.
In the first half of 2018, the inbound tourist flow continued to fall. From January to June, 300,000 fewer foreigners arrived in Russia than in the same period of 2017. The statistics were not corrected even by the start of the World Cup.
In the top 5 countries by the number of citizens who entered Russia for tourism during this period, were China (28.5% or 448,000 people), Germany (163.7 thousand), Korea (116,800), USA (90.1 thousand), Israel (58,500).
According to hoteliers, only 5% of foreigners bought tours. Most often they slept in hotels for 1-3 days and moved between cities, rather than staying in one place.
Some market participants are doubtful about the fall in inbound tourist flow. The Chinese tourist flow (with all the minuses) has increased significantly over the past 5 years from 600 thousand to 15 million people. Iran has expanded from 0 to 70 - 80 thousand tourists a year. Israel is showing good momentum. In Sochi, charters with tourists from Tel Aviv fly, - said the head of the tour operator "Svoy TS" Sergey Voitovich.