Female tourists from Turkey and the Persian Gulf countries have rushed to Russia for lip augmentation and other beauty procedures, Nevskie Sezony general director Kirill Sokolov said.
Sokolov told the Russian news agency National News Service (NSN) that women visiting Russia from Turkey are increasingly adding lip augmentation, spa visits, and rejuvenating procedures to their trip itineraries. According to Sokolov, the tourists usually do not purchase the cosmetic treatments in advance, deciding instead to buy them once they are already on their trips.
According to data from the Association of Tour Operators of Russia (ATOR), 68,272 Turkish citizens visited Russia in 2025, an increase of 16.7 percent in tourist flow. Alongside individual and group trips, tour operators have recorded a rise in business travel and women's tours focused on shared leisure, aesthetics, and self-care.
Lower prices for cosmetic procedures in Russia
Sokolov explained to NSN that women's tour groups from the Persian Gulf countries and Turkey come to Russia primarily for cultural and sightseeing purposes. He said that while some female tourists from those groups do purchase cosmetic and beauty procedures during their stay because the treatments are much cheaper in Russia, beauty care is not the main purpose of their travel.
Lip augmentation is a cosmetic procedure used to increase the fullness of the lips, most commonly with injectable dermal fillers, while non-surgical rejuvenating treatments and spa care make up a large segment of the aesthetic medicine industry. The Persian Gulf region includes Arab states such as the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Oman, while Turkey is a transcontinental country across Southeastern Europe and Western Asia with its own large domestic market for medical and aesthetic tourism.
Nevskie Sezony is a Russian tour operator based in Saint Petersburg that organises cultural and sightseeing tours for domestic and international travellers. ATOR is a Moscow-based tourism industry association that represents major Russian travel companies, while NSN is a Russian news service supplying reports to radio stations and online media.
Russian doctor bloggers and beauty industry growth
Igor Stoyanov, president of the Persona beauty salon chain, stressed that foreign female tourists choosing procedures in Russia are very likely guided by bloggers. Stoyanov said the trend is most likely driven by the strong and active social media accounts of Russian doctors who also work as bloggers.
Stoyanov added that if the Russian beauty sector creates the structure and technology needed so that visitors from other regions travel to Russia for treatments, he would be one of the happiest people and the Russian economy would begin to recover.
Persona is a major Russian network of beauty salons and styling agencies led by Stoyanov. The report on Turkish and Persian Gulf tourists buying cosmetic procedures in Russia follows earlier discussion in the country about a growing trend for trips to South Korea, an East Asian nation known internationally for its skincare, cosmetic medicine, and pop culture exports.
