Dmitry Chernyshenko: "Over 10 years the number of tourist trips in Russia has tripled"

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Over 10 years the number of domestic and inbound trips in Russia with hotel accommodation has tripled. Also, the number of rooms has increased by 48% - almost to one million. Such figures were announced at a session devoted to the development of tourism at the RUSSIA EXPO.

Tourism is now the fastest growing sector of the Russian economy, said Dmitry Chernyshenko, Deputy Prime Minister of Russia. During the pandemic, the industry was supported by serious measures. For example, a tourist cashback was introduced, which was used by 4.7 million people. After the launch of the national project "Tourism and Hospitality Industry" it became possible to structurally improve the offer in this sphere, said Deputy Prime Minister.

"The combination of effective anti-crisis measures against the background of demand recovery has had a key impact on the growth of investment activity in the industry. Investors and citizens believed in domestic tourism - and in 2022 the volume of investment has already increased significantly, reaching almost 600 billion rubles. This is 53% higher than a year earlier. The number of rooms commissioned increased by 48%. The results of 2023 show that demand for domestic tourism has not just recovered, but has already exceeded the pre-COVID level. We are talking about 20% growth - the number of trips amounted to almost 80 million," said Dmitry Chernyshenko.

This confirms that the chosen support measures were correct, he emphasized. On the instructions of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who pays great attention to the industry, new measures to stimulate the sector have been created. In particular, the country is building new accommodations, creating new points of attraction, attracting investors. In addition, the number of foreign visitors is growing.

"Tourism in Russia is definitely not just a sector anymore. We have colossal prospects. This is a sphere that unites our people, evokes a sense of pride for our country," said Deputy Prime Minister.

At the moment, the tourism industry is one of the key points of growth, demand here significantly exceeds supply, said the Minister of Economic Development Maxim Reshetnikov. It is expected that in 2030 the number of new trips in Russia will amount to 140 million, and the share of tourism in the country's gross domestic product will grow to 4.5%.

"53 million - these will be the number of new trips. For your understanding - in 2022 there were 73 million. At that, the growth of trips is expected at the expense of those who do not travel now and those who will do it more often. Short weekend trips of the format "Moscow - Tver", "Yekaterinburg - Tyumen" and others will increase. That is, trips that can be made in 2-3 days with the family. And, of course, trips to resorts - Sochi, Crimea, Caucasus, Altai," said Maxim Reshetnikov.

For the growth of the industry, it is necessary to build new hotels, to create year-round points of attraction to smooth the seasonality of rest, and to develop the transport sphere - not only to provide affordable tickets, but also to create infrastructure for automobile tourism, emphasized the head of the Ministry of Economic Development.

The session raised the issues of regional branding to attract new tourists, legislative support of the industry and the role of business, state corporations and regions in it. The session was attended by Inna Svyatenko, Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council of the Russian Federation, Sangadzhi Tarbayev, Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Tourism and Tourism Infrastructure Development, Vitaly Mutko, Director General of the Dom.RF State Company, as well as heads of regions and representatives of the tourism business.

The National Achievements Forum will last from February 3 to 27. Deputy Chairmen of the Russian Government and ministers present the results of the implementation of national projects and large-scale state programs.