Yuriy Barzikin, vice-president of the Russian Union of Tourism Industry, predicts an increase in popularity among Russian tourists in 6 countries, including Syria and Angola.

His comments in an interview with Lenta, one of the most popular Russian news sites, came as the Moscow government announced it was preparing visa reciprocity agreements with six countries.

These are India, Angola, Vietnam, Indonesia, Syria and the Philippines.

“Simplification of obtaining visas will contribute to the formation of relevant tourist flows. It is expected that the flow will increase by at least 10-15%. It is profitable,” said Barzikin.

He added that now the Russians are “welcome guests in Southeast Asia, Africa and Latin America.”

Russian tourists can no longer reach some of their favorite places

Barzikin noted that in the current conditions, when some destinations are practically closed to Russians, the simplification of the visa regime with some countries will lead to the expansion of opportunities for tourists from Russia.

“I think that this practice will continue. By the way, our colleagues from Kazakhstan and Belarus follow the same path and today also have a simplified or visa-free regime in several areas,” he reminded, adding that the effect of the measures is expected to be felt “rather quickly.”

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said earlier that Russia is negotiating visa facilitation agreements with 11 countries, bringing the number to 70, when it comes to easing restrictions on issuing electronic visas.

We will remind you that the entire European Union has closed the airspace for Russian planes since February 27 last year, 3 days after the start of the invasion of Ukraine.

Subsequently, several EU countries that were favorite destinations for tourists from Russia, such as Greece or Cyprus, took measures to prevent Russian tourists from entering their territory through transit countries such as Turkey.

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