Russia makes bid to woo Indian tourists to counter western sanctions

Moscow, St. Petersburg send large delegations to OTM travel show to attract tourists

Sanction-hit Russia is making an aggressive bid to woo Indian travellers to visit its key cities.

Its top two cities, namely Moscow and St. Petersburg, have sent tourism delegations to an ongoing trade event called OTM to onboard a large number of travel agents to sell tour packages and woo Indians.

“During pandemic the tourist flow had dropped significantly. For St Petersburg, it dropped 72%. In that period, internal tourism witnessed a significant growth. Now, we can see the urge of Indians to visit our destinations,” said Kuzenskaya Julia, deputy chairman, Committee for Tourism Development, St. Petersburg. She said Indians can have hassle-free trip to St. Petersburg and the transaction [payment] issues  were being resolved and “discussed at the highest level.” Despite the war, she said, “absolutely there is no threat to tourists and everything is very peaceful.”

She said, “We are trying a lot to attract people from Asian destinations and we have seen more and more people have started coming in from India. We know that Asian markets have huge potential,” she added.

Moscow City Tourism Committee has put up a stall at OTM demonstrating its tourism and MICE potential. The Moscow delegation is holding talks with members of travel trade and showcasing destinations before Mumbai film producers. 

Alina Arutyunova, Deputy Chairman, Moscow City Tourism Committee, said she had come to Mumbai to further strengthen the relationship with India.

“Now, more Indians are traveling to Moscow and there is no problem in payments. We are focused on India and Saudi Arabia to attract tourists,” she said.