About 500 thousand people work in the tourism industry of Moscow. Thanks to them, the capital's tourism industry has almost completely recovered after the pandemic and continues to develop actively. This year, the tourist flow and the average occupancy of hotels reached 90% of the record level of 2019. And in terms of the number of travelers from other regions of Russia, this year surpasses all previous ones.
During the summer season of 2023, 7.1 million guests visited Moscow, which is 17% more than last summer. Another 4.6 million guests came to the capital for sightseeing purposes without spending the night. In total, almost 12 million travelers visited the city in June-August, which is 35% higher than last year's figures.
The basis of the tourist flow is made up of residents of our country. This summer, the number of guests from the regions of Russia amounted to 6.5 million people. 8% more than in the record for tourism in 2019.
The increase in visits of guests from foreign countries also contributes to the restoration of the tourist flow.
In the first half of the year, almost 1 million foreign tourists came to Moscow. Over the summer – over 600 thousand people. China has become the leader among non-CIS countries. Also in the top 5 are Iran, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey and India. Citizens of Uzbekistan, Belarus and Kazakhstan predominate among travelers from neighboring countries.
As a result, tourism makes a huge contribution to the development of the urban economy. According to experts, the expenses of tourists amounted to 372 billion rubles. This is 27% more than in the summer of 2022. The volume of revenues to the budget of Moscow will reach 51 billion rubles. About 15 new kindergartens and schools can be built with this money.
Moscow attracts tourists with a variety of interests. We have about 350 cultural events every week: residents and visitors of the city can choose from 50 events every evening.
Gastronomic tourism is gaining popularity. If you have breakfast, lunch and dinner every day in a new institution, it will take about 17 years to try all more than 18.5 thousand restaurants, cafes and other "delicious" places of the capital.
The capital develops family and children's tourism. During the summer period, 1 million children and teenagers visited Moscow as tourists.
Moscow hotels also show good dynamics. The utilization of hotels and other accommodation facilities this summer was 77% – 10% more than in the same period of 2022.
This year, 4 new hotels with more than 400 rooms have opened, 2 more facilities will open their doors by the end of the year.
Together with the physical infrastructure, the Moscow Government is actively developing digital platforms for travelers. The largest of them is the travel service RUSSPASS.
In three years of work, the project has grown into a full-fledged digital assistant in planning trips around Russia for Muscovites and residents of other cities. The service contains offers from 85 regions, a description of their attractions and points of attraction for tourists. All data is checked and verified by representatives of regional tourism industries so that the user has the most up-to-date information. The leaders in the number of objects presented on the service are Moscow, St. Petersburg, Krasnodar Krai and Sverdlovsk Region.
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