FALCON POWERS – Two and a half years after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which suddenly halted the influx of Western tourists, Russia is now trying to attract Asian visitors, whether from China or the Middle East.
This shift is clearly visible in St. Petersburg, the former imperial capital famous for its palaces and canals. “We used to hear mainly English, French or Italian,” said Alexandra Kolikova, who is involved in the management of an apartment rental business with a view of the majestic St. Isaac’s Cathedral. The apartments used to be “fully booked, regardless of the season” in this city built by Tsar Peter the Great, Russia’s most Europe-oriented ruler.
Kolikova now expresses regret, saying “I see a lot of Chinese groups and Arab families with children, as well as Indian tourists (…). But they seem extremely wealthy, they stay in luxury hotels, not in apartments.”
The European, British and American sanctions, which suspended direct flights between these countries and Russia and made it impossible to pay with credit cards, have accelerated the “reorientation of international tourism eastward,” as Sergei Kalinin, head of the St. Petersburg Guides and Interpreters Association, explained.
The figures clearly show this shift. In the first quarter of 2024, about 218,000 foreign tourists visited Russia, with nearly half of them (99,000) from China, followed by a large gap with tourists from Turkey (12,500), the United Arab Emirates (7,300), Saudi Arabia (6,000) and even Iran (4,600), according to the Russian Association of Tour Operators.
