All news

Tourist flow to Moscow surges by 40% in past six years, expert says

Residents of Russian regions account for 74% of a total number of tourists visiting Moscow

MOSCOW, January 31. /TASS/. The number of tourists visiting Moscow has grown by 40% in the past six years, the head of the Moscow’s department for sports and tourism said on Tuesday.

"The number of tourists grew from 12.8 million in 2010 to 17.5 million in 2016," Nikolai Gulyayev told a session of the Moscow government.

He said residents of Russian regions account for 74% of a total number of tourists visiting Moscow. The share of foreigners is more modest, 26%, with tourists from China, Germany, Turkey, Israel, France, Italy, the US, the UK and Spain leading among them.

Russian tourists arrive in Moscow by plane, train or car, approximately in equal numbers. A total of 88% of foreigners arrive by plane. About one third of guests head to Moscow to visit friends and relatives, another 30 or so percent are interested in educational tourism, and six percent arrive in Moscow with other goals in mind - medical treatment, studies, pilgrimage, etc.

According to Gulyayev, event tourism is on the rise, with more and more guests coming for city festivals. For example, more than 4.8 million tourists, including 4.2 million from the Moscow region and other Russian regions, and 600,000 foreigners have visited Moscow for the festival "Trip into Christmas".