Tourism between Russia, China Expected to Grow

As tourist rush from China to Russia and vice-versa is constantly rising, officials from the two neighboring countries are convinced to develop the visa process in order to make travel easy and remove all barriers.

This week, officials from Moscow and Beijing met in Vladivostok to talk about bilateral tourism, in the framework of the Russian-Chinese Commission for Humanitarian Cooperation.

Russia and China had argued on the possibility of setting up the working group in June, when the Federal Tourism Agency head, Zarina Doguzova, held talks with the Minister of Culture and Tourism of the People’s Republic of China, Luo Sugan, in Moscow.

At present, Russia and China have a short-term visa policy. From 2000, for certain organized tour groups, the two countries have had visa-free entry for a maximum of 15 days. In July last year, the requirements were made even easier:  the minimum group size was decreased to three and the maximum length of stay was increased to 21 days.

After the meeting, Konyushkov stated that the parties considered the possibilities of simplifying the visa regime between Russia and China to develop tourism and fortify financial relations between the two countries, as well as their cultural and humanitarian ties.

In the past five years, tourism went through a major boom in the number of travelers, because of relaxed visa rules introduced in 2017 for citizens of 18 countries. The e-visas for visiting the Far East of Russia, which are issued after an applicant completes online forms, allow visitors to stay for a maximum of eight days and are valid for 30 days from the date of issue.

Also, the Russian government is all set to start issuing e-visas for those visiting Kaliningrad, the Russian exclave located along the Baltic coastline in northeastern Europe and bordered by Poland and Lithuania.

In the first six months of this year, China and South Korea have topped the list of countries in terms of international tourists flowed to Russia, according to an analysis by Amadeus Company, a primary provider of technology solutions for the tourism sector.