The Russian government boasts of “curing the population of foreign travel addiction”, but there is a nuance

According to “The Moscow Times”, Chernyshenko states that “Russia needs to grow its tourism infrastructure as quickly as possible in order to meet the growing demand of citizens, so that they can fall more and more in love with recreation in their country”.

In September 2022, Russian dictator Vladimir Putin ordered the creation of “all-season resorts” on the coast of the Black, Baltic, Caspian and Azov seas, as well as on the coast of the Sea of ​​Japan in Primorsky Krai. According to Putin, these resorts should receive up to 10 million tourists a year.

In his address to the Federal Assembly on February 29, Putin promised to increase the number of annual tourist trips to the country – up to 140 million people by 2030.

Here, however, another problem emerges, which also allowed the authorities to “cure” the desire of Russian citizens to rest abroad. The study conducted by VTB and “Otkritiye” banks concluded that an overwhelming majority of Russian residents – 72% – spent their vacation at home or in a summer house, and only 10% went to rest in resorts in the Krasnodar region, as well as visited St. Petersburg, Moscow and Karalyuchy. The least popular resorts for tourist trips turned out to be the Caucasus and Crimea (4% each). Likewise, 3% of Russian travelers have chosen to go to Turkey this year.

The survey concluded that only a third of the population can afford to spend more than 50 thousand rubles (approximately 500 euros) on a summer vacation, while a fifth spends up to 15 thousand rubles (150 euros) on a vacation. It is indicated that the population would “like” to travel abroad as well, but this is actually not possible due to financial reasons.