The State Duma supported the idea of easing visa requirements in tourist regions. Sergei Krivonosov, Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Physical Culture, Sports, Tourism, and Youth Affairs, believes this will help develop inbound tourism, and there will also be an opportunity to replenish budget revenues from tourism.
On February 6, at the Delovaya Rossiya forum, the Russian president stated that the practice of short-term visa-free entry into the country's regions should be expanded. He also noted that the position of law enforcement agencies and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs should be taken into account.
"We've been discussing this issue for a long time, but the Ministry of Foreign Affairs adheres to the 'principle of reciprocity.' Currently, simplified short-term entry for foreigners using electronic visas is in effect in the Far Eastern Federal District, and an experiment will begin in the Kaliningrad Region this summer. We're also taking into account last year's experience with visa-free entry using Fan IDs. I believe it's worth expanding the use of electronic visas in some tourist regions," said Sergei Krivonosov, according to TASS.
He also emphasized that the world is currently competing for "wealthy tourists," and that easing the visa-free regime will help attract precisely this type of audience to Russia.
Source: trn-news.ru