UPDATE - Internal Tourism Surges By 50% Over 4 Years In Russia - Research

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 21st June, 2023) Internal tourism in Russia has grown more than 50% over the last four years, with the North Caucasus and the Tyumen Region showing the most rapid increase, a survey by SberAnalytics research agency shows.

The think tank used anonymous retrospective data on the number of tourist trips and tourists' spending, comparing the first quarters of 2019 and 2023.

In four years internal tourism in Russia grew by 50%, the research shows, with a 3.1 times increase recorded in the Karachay-Cherkess Republic in North Caucasus, while internal tourism grew 2.2 times in the same time period in the neighboring Kabardino-Balkarian Republic.

The West Siberia's Tyumen Region witnessed a 1.8 times increase, according to the survey's data.

With 13.6% of the total tourists number in 2023, Moscow stays the most attractive destination, followed by the Moscow Region with 12.7%, the city of St. Petersburg with 8.6% and the Krasnodar Territory, which borders Crimea, with 7.1% and also the longest stays, the data show.

The Stavropol Territory, which borders the Krasnodar Territory to the east, southern Siberia's Altay Territory, the Kaliningrad Region, the exclave of Kaliningrad on the Baltic Sea and the Far Eastern Sakhalin Region are also on the list of destinations, where tourists stay the longest, according to the survey.

Analysts also noted that young people more often prefer regions which are not typical for mass recreation, such as North Caucasus' Ingushetia or the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug in Russia's Far East. In particular, tourists especially like the all-season resort Armkhi in Ingushetia and Wrangel Island in Chukotka.

Meanwhile, Moscow with its estates and cathedrals, as well as seaside resorts of the Krasnodar Territory and mineral water springs in the Stavropol Territory attract older tourists, whose an average age is 42 years.

The survey is based on the aggregated anonymous data about the needs and preferences of 106 million clients and 6 million entities, as well as information from over 70 internal and external sources, which allows to analyze different markets in details, considering their industry and regional specifics.

Restrictions, which the European Union imposed on Russian citizens following the start of Moscow's military operation in Ukraine in February 2022, made many Russian holidaymakers seek new destinations, heading to non-Western countries and discovering internal tourism. Lifting the pandemic-related barriers has also contributed to the increase of tourist trips inside of Russia.