Tourism in Russia

St. Basil's Cathedral in Red Square

Tourism in Russia plummeted in 2022. Only 200,100 foreigners visited Russia in 2022, a drop of 96.1% from pre-pandemic/pre-Russian invasion of Ukraine years.[1] Earlier, Russia had seen rapid growth since the late Soviet times, first domestic tourism and then international tourism as well.[2] Russia had formerly been among the most popular tourist destinations in the world, though it fell off that list in 2022. Not including Crimea, the country contains 23 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, while more are on UNESCO's tentative lists.[3]

Tourist routes in Russia include a travel around the Golden Ring of ancient cities, cruises on the rivers including the Volga, and long journeys on the Trans-Siberian Railway. Diverse regions and ethnic cultures of Russia offer different foods and souvenirs, and show a variety of traditions, including Russian Maslenitsa, Tatar Sabantuy, or Siberian shamanist rituals. In 2013, Russia was visited by 33 million tourists, making it the ninth-most visited country in the world and the seventh-most visited in Europe.[4]

  1. ^ "Tourism collapses in Russia following western sanctions". Al Arabiya English. 9 February 2023.
  2. ^ "Number of inbound tourism visits to Russia from 2014 to 2022", Statista, 27 April 2023
  3. ^ "UNESCO World Heritage Centre – Tentative Lists". UNESCO. Retrieved 16 December 2017.
  4. ^ "Tourism Highlights 2014" (PDF). E-unwto.org. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 January 2015. Retrieved 16 December 2017.