In Moscow there are more foreign tourists

Moscow remains the most visited city in Russia. And 2010 promises to be a successful year for tourism in Moscow. Thus, according to the information published by the Moscow Committee for Tourism, the number of tourists arriving in the Russian capital for the first 9 months of 2010 increased by 17% and is amounted to 3,690,279 people. The report of Moscomturism separately marks the increase in British tourists, whose numbers increased since last year by 3%.

Against the background of the tourist flow increase in the number of hotels in Moscow seems natural. By the end of 2010 in the Russian capital is planned to reconstruct and build in total 21 hotel.

The situation with hotels in Moscow is still difficult. In the Russian capital there is a shortage of middle class hotels. However, many global hotel brands are ready to enter the Moscow market. Among them is also Accor corporation, which wishes to develop in the capital its network of budget hotels under the brand Ibis. Among the newest hotel chains in the medium price segment can be noted such names as “VashOtel”, which manages 11 3 *hotels in Moscow.

The total number of hotels in Moscow is 279 and they offer tourists in total 88,000 seats.

Against the background of growing popularity among tourists Moscow demonstrates the growth of not only hotel industry, but also other companies that provide ancillary services. Thus, the market of car rental is rapidly growing in Moscow. The number of companies offering car rental in Moscow for the 2010 has increased by at least 10 new firms. The volume of the Moscow market of car rental in 2010 was estimated at 40 million dollars.

At the same time, tourism in Moscow and in Russia in general is still in a difficult situation. One of the major hurdles is the issue of visas. The introduction of visa-free regime with the EU exists only in the plans. In this case, the visa regime for foreigners becomes more complex. Thus, since January 1, 2011 will be abolished short-term visas, which were introduced in 2002 to encourage flow of tourists to Russia.