The list of new 11 countries was approved by the Order of the Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation, whose citizens will be able to come to Russia by applying for a single electronic visa. According to the calculations of the ATOR Analytical Service, the entry flow for tourist and business purposes using an electronic visa may grow by 5-7%, but the real number of classic tourists will hardly grow.
According to the decree, 11 countries have been added to the 55 countries whose citizens can apply for an electronic visa to Russia: Barbados, Bhutan, Zimbabwe, Jordan, Kenya, Papua New Guinea, Saint Lucia, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkmenistan, Eswatini. By the same decree, Serbia and Andorra, with which bilateral agreements on mutual visa-free travel of citizens have been concluded, were excluded from the list. Currently, the list includes 64 States.
ATOR draws attention to the fact that previously the flow of business and tourist arrivals from all the “new” 11 countries to Russia was at a minimum level. There are two exceptions.
The first is Turkmenistan, from which, according to the Border Service of the FSB of the Russian Federation? tens of thousands of citizens enter Russia, indicating the purpose of the visit as “tourism”. However, experts from the tourism industry have repeatedly pointed out that almost all such visits are of a personal (private) nature. Tour operators from Turkmenistan do not record the classic tourist flow. Of course, Turkmen citizens will use the convenient electronic visa mechanism, which will be reflected in the statistics of visas issued.
Jordan is the only promising market for classical and business tourism in Russia from the entire list. The tourist and business flow from it is still small, and with the spread of the e-visa regime to this country, we can expect some growth in the tourist flow from it.
HOW MANY FOREIGNERS COME TO RUSSIA FROM THE NEW 11 COUNTRIES (ON REGULAR VISAS)
|
Country from the new list of 11 countries |
Number of visits, tourism + business goals, for the whole of 2023 |
Number of visits, tourism + business goals, three quarters of 2024 |
|
Barbados |
1 |
0 |
|
Bhutan |
10 |
9 |
|
Zimbabwe |
549 |
545 |
|
Jordan |
1,310 |
1,618 |
|
Kenya |
297 |
291 |
|
Eswatini |
4 |
1 |
|
Kenya |
2 |
2 |
|
September-Lucia |
2 |
9 |
|
Tonga |
0 |
1 |
|
Trinidad and Tobago |
3 |
12 |
|
Turkmenistan |
44 229 |
51 740 |
|
Total |
46 407 |
54 228 |
There are very few visits from other countries for tourism or business purposes in absolute terms. Nevertheless, with the introduction of e-visas, we can expect a significant increase in the flow for these purposes in percentages.
In general, according to ATOR analysts, the flow of e-visa arrivals to Russia may increase by 5-7% due to the expansion of the list of countries using this regime. At the same time, the effect on the tourism industry will be small: this growth will mainly occur due to the most massive market – Turkmenistan, whose citizens travel to Russia mainly not for the purpose of tourism. Turkmenistan now accounts for 95.4% of the total business and tourist flow from the new 11 countries.