The list of new 11 countries was approved by the Decree 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 incoming flow with tourist and business purposes using an electronic visa may grow by 5-7%, but the real number of classic tourists will almost not grow.
According to the order, 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, and Eswatini. The same decree excluded Serbia and Andorra from the list, with which bilateral agreements on mutual visa-free travel of citizens have been concluded. Currently, the list includes 64 States.
ATOR draws attention to the fact that previously the inbound flow for business and tourism purposes from all the “new” 11 states 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 is “tourism”. However, experts in the tourism industry have repeatedly pointed out that almost all such visits are personal (private) in nature. Tour operators from Turkmenistan do not record the classic tourist flow. Of course, Turkmen citizens will use a convenient e-visa mechanism, which will be reflected in the statistics of visas issued.
Jordan is the only promising market for classical and business tourism in the Russian Federation 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, some growth in the tourist flow can be expected 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, the whole year 2023 |
Number of visits, 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 numbers. Nevertheless, with the introduction of electronic visas, we can expect a significant increase in the flow of these goals 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 for the tourism industry will be small: basically, such growth will occur at the expense of the mass market itself – Turkmenistan, whose citizens travel to Russia mainly not for the purpose of tourism. Currently, Turkmenistan accounts for 95.4% of the total business and tourist flow from the new 11 countries.
