What will happen to tourism in Russia and how will it change after the closure of Rostourism?

When Vladimir Putin announced the liquidation of Rostourism and the transfer of the powers of this department to the Ministry of Economic Development, many naturally began to worry quite naturally that the nascent Russian tourism would, frankly, return to its former state. , low level. But what were the plans and prospects in this area in the last few years!

The Fashion Vibes understands whether this is so and together with the experts learn what tourism will be in Russia in the coming years.

Domestic tourism, as a sector of particular importance, “declared” itself during the pandemic when traveling abroad turned out to be a very problematic, if not impossible, event. And then we all suddenly learned that for the northern lights it is not necessary to go to Finland or Norway, but in Teriberka in the Murmansk region, and in Yakutia. Definitely “wild” adventures, where you can go, for example, to the Putorana Plateau. There are hot springs in Tyumen, and Santa Claus lives in Veliky Ustyug, in the Vologda region. The sea and incredible canyons are in Dagestan. Vineyards in the Krasnodar Territory are no worse than in Europe. In general, we discovered how bright, unusual, surprisingly beautiful things are in our country. And most importantly – it is possible to get there, there is a place to live and eat deliciously, it is safe there. There is at least minimal infrastructure.

And people decided to leave their huts and go to new places for themselves in their own country. “In recent years, everyone has seen a significant increase in interest and expectations for domestic tourism. Bella Gevorgyan, general manager of Mriya Resort & SPA, said that since the pandemic period, our tourist has turned to domestic tourism and many people were very surprised by their abilities.

Activity and Rostourism

The tourist refund program launched by Rostourism greatly facilitated the activities of Russians traveling around the country. It was empowering for the promotion of the regions in which it operates. In general, the words “domestic tourism” and “Rosturism” have increasingly been on the news agenda for the last few years and especially for the last year. Thanks to Rostourism, rental programs were subsidized, small businesses were supported in the form of grants, and concessional loans were given to investors. And in the summer, at SPIEF, they launched the national project “Tourism and hospitality industry”, prepared by Rostourism, operating within the framework of the state program for the development of tourism.

crossroads of everything

But is Rosturism really that important as an independent entity? In fact, it was always subordinate to the Ministry of Economic Development, then to the Ministry of Sports, then to the Ministry of Culture and then again to the Ministry of Economic Development. In addition, Rosturizm is not the only structure responsible for the development of domestic tourism in recent years. There is also the company Tourism.rf, which was created in 2020 on the basis of North Caucasus Resorts. It reports directly to the government – and it is he who has to deal with the formation of tourist clusters and investing in the creation of infrastructure.

It is also worth remembering that tourism is an area where others intersect: it is associated with the construction of roads, the transport and aviation industries, and the construction of hotels. Therefore, tourism-related projects often go through other ministries anyway: for example, the main executor of the state tourism development program is the Ministry of Construction, 75% of all funds go through it. This is why most tourism-related projects go away – they are directly overseen by the government or ministries such as the Ministry of Economic Development.

It is already known that the national project “Tourism and accommodation industry”, in which all subjects of the Russian Federation participate, will be preserved, it will be carried out by the Ministry of Economic Development. They will also continue to create and develop tourist routes around Lake Baikal, Kamchatka and Sakhalin. And this, of course, is an incredibly powerful incentive. “Domestic tourism will certainly gain additional impetus for development,” says Grigory Bolotin, co-founder of the Royal Maral nursery in Altai. “There will be new customers in almost every segment, from premium properties to budget accommodation options. There could be a particularly significant increase in remote unique areas like Altai where wealthy tourists go in search of extraordinary experiences.” Bella Gevorgyan said, “To ensure such interest, of course, it is necessary to be ready to meet the needs of tourists and, most importantly, to create a decent infrastructure on the ground.” The first step to be handled by the state structures within the framework of the initiated national projects is the creation of the infrastructure.

private enterprise

But the most important thing to understand about tourism in Russia is that the main creators of attractive destinations and places are those who make their own investments or attract money there. As before, most often tourist attractions are created by private investors – to create something new or restore the old. For example, Nikola-Lenivets with its numerous festivals is a special project that attracted local authorities to expand and improve it long after it became popular (it looks like they are planning to build a normal road there eventually). Or “Terem Astashovo”: who knew about its existence and was going to go to the dense forests of the Ryazan region until enthusiasts invested money in it and restored it? Or the same wineries in the south of Russia, visited by a large number of people last year – otherwise they would hardly visit these villages.

Or, for example, hotels and resorts that have become whole clusters, such as Mriya Resort: on its territory, in addition to the hotel itself, there is a unique WinePark project with a gravity winery and a sommelier robot, there are many improvement opportunities. a personalized approach, 11 restaurants of various national cuisines, an extensive program of events for guests of all ages and interests, infrastructure for business events. Of course, this is a huge attraction for both those who live in the hotel and those who come for lunch, dinner or tasting.

Thanks to such special projects, the tourism industry in Russia is gaining more and more importance every year. “It has an invigorating effect on other sectors of the economy, attracts investments, creates a large number of jobs, reveals the cultural and historical potential of the country,” says Bella Gevorgyan.

The plans are the same

Therefore, most likely, ordinary tourists traveling around Russia are unlikely to notice the abolition of Rosturism. The only thing that can somehow affect them is the restriction of the tourist refund program: for example, it is completed for 2022. But it will likely start again next season.

But in everything else, both the problems and prospects of Russian tourism will remain approximately the same as before, and they will be gradually resolved, mainly at the expense of private investors. As Grigory Bolotin pointed out, first of all, there are two main limiting factors that tourists themselves will have to endure – infrastructure and level of service. “Our tourism infrastructure is far behind what tourists traveling abroad are used to. Arrangement of attractions and transport accessibility, information about tourist attractions, availability of middle and high-class accommodation – with all this, we still have a significant backlog, ”says the expert.

According to him, the second problem is more sensitive to customers – this is the level of service. “Remote areas lack staff to provide quality service, people from other regions need to be invited there,” explains Grigory. – This, firstly, complicates the recruitment process, and secondly, it makes the final service more expensive for the client. But the private investment that has filled the domestic tourism sector in recent years should play its part and in a few years staff shortages will likely ease.

Well, the state should also help develop the infrastructure, because there is a desperate lack of roads to beautiful places in Russia and transport there. Therefore, we hope that in a few years we will be able to travel around our hometown easily, with pleasure, with comfort and at the same time without paying large sums of money.