“We compared Rosstat data on travel abroad and excursion trips to Russian regions in 2016. Finland was visited by 2.8 million Russian tourists, Vologda Oblast received 3 million people, and all of them were tourists. China - 1.6 million, Altai Krai - 1.5 million people. Tyumen was visited by 2.6 million tourists, of which 750 thousand were excursionists who came for one day without an overnight stay,” said M. Lomidze.
She compared 1.05 million Russians who visited Germany and 1.3 million who came to Kaliningrad, as well as about 1 million people who came to Buryatia to admire Lake Baikal and become involved with Buddhist culture.
“Greece was visited by 782 thousand, Kostroma by 750 thousand. France received 393 thousand Russian tourists last year, and the Ulyanovsk region by 435 thousand,” said M. Lomidze.
The main part of excursion tourists are residents of neighboring regions, tourists from distant regions are less. Foreigners make up 2.5-6% of the tourist flow.
According to ATOR, 51% tourists in the regions of the Russian Federation prefer to visit museums, most often art museums, 12% visit local history museums.
"Tourists have an unusually high interest in the history of the peoples living in the republics. In Buryatia, for example, there is a huge interest in the Old Believers, you can even hold a traditional wedding ceremony there," M. Lomidze noted.
She added that the prospects for gastronomic tourism in Russian regions are growing every year.
According to Rostourism, in 2016, domestic tourist flow to the Russian Federation amounted to 50–55 million people, and outbound tourist flow amounted to 31.7 million tourists.
Source: tourism.interfax.ru
