E-visa to all regions of Russia?

After offering free e-visa to Indian tourists travelling to four regions of the Russian Federation, including St. Petersburg, Leningrad, Kaliningrad and Far East region, Russia is going to further simplify the process by offering an e-visa facility to all regions of the Federation by 2021.

Manas Dwivedi

The Federal Agency for Tourism of the Russian Federation, federal agency Rossotrudnichestvo, the local organising structure for UEFA Euro 2020 (St. Petersburg) and UNWTO together organised the ‘Russia 2020 – EURO as a Gift’ roadshow in New Delhi with an objective to present the main tourist products of Russia to the Indian market. The topic of e-visa and the mechanism for obtaining the same were the key areas of focus at the event. India is placed third in terms of fastest growing tourism exporter to Russia from the Asian region, with 47.8 per cent growth. The Federal Agency for Tourism expects that introducing e-visas for Indian citizens will be an effective way to double the flow of both group and individual tourists from the country. The event was also an opportunity for the trade to get details on matches in the UEFA Euro 2020, the European football championship in St. Petersburg, and introducing a ‘Fan ID’ that would be a special pass for travellers who buy tickets to Euro 2020.

We should actively develop new types of tourism that have been requested, including culinary tours and expeditions – Sergey Korneev

Partners in promoting different regions of Russia in India, Prashant Chaudhary, Chairman and Managing Director, Salvia Promoters, said that Russia is becoming one of the most preferred outbound destinations among Indian travellers. “Moscow and St. Petersburg are two popular destinations among Indians; we have also added Sochi to the list. This year, we will promote Murmansk, where travellers can see the Northern Lights. We expect almost 150,000 Indian tourists in 2020,” he said.

Sergey Korneev, Deputy Head, Federal Agency for Tourism of the Russian Federation, said, “Active pro- motion of information about e-visas within the professional community and the growth of welfare of a large part of Indians will soon lead to an increase in the tourist flow from India, and we should actively develop those new types of tourism that have been requested, including culinary tours and expeditions.”

At the event, Alexander F Gorokhov, CEO, Association Union of National and International Tourist Information Organizations (SONATO), spoke of the potential of the Indian market being no less than that of the Chinese. “Three years ago, there were 40,000 tourists and today, this has touched 70,000. We expect to hit the 100,000 mark this year,” he said.