Published on: 2026-11-06
Source: Government of the Russian Federation –
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Under the chairmanship of Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko, a meeting of the Government Commission on Tourism Development was held in the city of Kirovsk, Murmansk Region.
The event was attended by the Deputy Plenipotentiary Representative of the President in the Northwestern Federal District Ivan Egorov, the Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council Inna Svyatenko, the Minister of Economic Development of Russia Maksim Reshetnikov, the Governor of Murmansk Oblast Andrey Chibis, the President of the Russian Association of Fertilizer Producers Andrey Guryev, the heads of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, and business representatives.
“About 71 million trips were made across Russia in the first nine months of 2026. The main contribution to the growth in the number of trips came from regions with developed tourist and transport infrastructure. First and foremost – Moscow Region, Moscow, Tatarstan. It is gratifying that the inbound flow increased by 17.5%. We see that in nine months more than 4 million foreign tourists visited our country. We expect that by the end of the year we will reach a figure of more than 6 million trips. This is due to the launch of electronic visas, the visa-free regime with China, and the expansion of air traffic. Undoubtedly, Russia’s promotion abroad also yields results. I have a request to the subjects to strengthen work jointly with the industry, ministries, and agencies,” said Dmitry Chernyshenko.
He noted that work must continue on creating tourist products and increasing the attractiveness of regions for Russians and foreign guests.
“The government and the Ministry of Economic Development are working on systematically increasing the number of rooms. In the summer, approximately 31 thousand classified accommodation facilities remained functionally available, providing a room fund of over 1 million places, as well as about 10 thousand guest houses with a room fund of 90 thousand. We must create conditions for our investors,” noted Dmitry Chernyshenko.
The Deputy Prime Minister also paid attention to the safety issues of winter resorts, the implementation of the national project “Tourism and Hospitality” indicators, and the preparations for the 60th anniversary celebration of the “Golden Ring” route, which attracts more than 24 million tourists annually.
“The immediate task is to ensure an effective winter season in order to increase the pace. Regions certainly need to compete for every tourist not only among themselves but also with foreign destinations, motivating Russian citizens to travel across our beautiful country,” concluded Dmitry Chernyshenko.
The Deputy Prime Minister emphasized that the tourist route “Golden Ring” is a project within which several regions can pool their resources and help each other.
“President Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin declared the next year as the Year of Geography and noted that the Year of Unity of the Peoples of Russia does not end after December 31. I ask to use this for promoting and styling the tourism potential of our country,” he added.
Dmitry Chernyshenko emphasized that tourism is one of the promising areas of economic development for the Murmansk region. “Over the past five years, the flow of tourists to the region has been growing by double digits. Therefore, there are every reason to believe that in the North, beyond the Arctic Circle, we are witnessing the birth of a new federal-level tourism cluster. This is the result of systematic work on the development of Arctic tourism and a confirmation of travelers’ growing interest in the North,” he said. The Deputy Prime Minister noted that the tourist infrastructure of Kirovsk includes, among other things, space for mountain tourism, in the development of which the company PhosAgro has invested more than 20 billion rubles.
Maxim Reshetnikov announced the forecast for winter tourist trips: about 32 million for the season — roughly the same as the previous year, indicating a stable flow of tourists. At the same time, according to him, aggregators are noting a change in tourists’ behavioral patterns: travelers are increasingly making decisions about their trips just a couple of weeks, and sometimes only a few days, before departure.
Maxim Reshetnikov also listed the main directions for winter trips. The first is large cities with developed infrastructure: Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Kazan, and Nizhny Novgorod, where people go for the festive atmosphere, gastronomy, and quality hotels. The second is regions with guaranteed snow: the north of the country, Siberia, the Urals, and the Far East. The third is short trips out of town within one’s own or a neighboring region. The fourth is ski resorts.
“Resorts are expanding slopes and upgrading lifts for the winter season: Manzherok increased its skiing areas by 30 km, a new cable car to the top of Mount Zelyonaya with a capacity of 2,300 people per hour is being launched at Sheregesh, and in Chelyabinsk’s Solnechnaya Dolina, two slopes 1 km and 350 m long and two chairlifts with four and six seats were built,” said Maksim Reshetnikov.
The head of the Ministry of Economic Development called preferential lending to hotels for creating the room fund a key tool for supporting the industry: the program includes 300 projects for 63,000 rooms. In 2026, 12 large hotels with 2,500 rooms were introduced in the country. Thus, new accommodation places appeared in Moscow and the Moscow region, St. Petersburg, Novgorod, Nizhny Novgorod, Ulyanovsk, Kostroma regions, Stavropol, Perm and Krasnodar territories. Since 2022, 14,000 rooms have been created in modular hotels, and by the end of 2027, another 7,000 will be added.
Also, according to the minister, infrastructure for recreation is developing: thanks to preferential loans, 6 water parks have been opened, 3 of them this year, with a total capacity of about 3 million visits per year, and Udmurtia and the Tambov region have opened thermal complexes. He cited the example of the Tyumen region, where more than 20 thermal centers operate: in January – February, the region ranked in the top 10 for winter tourist flow, and every third trip was for thermal recreation. Maksim Reshetnikov also reminded that support for the regions within the framework of a unified subsidy amounts to 26.4 billion rubles: 8.5 billion in 2025, 8.9 billion in 2026, and 9 billion in 2027. Funds are received by 84 regions. For example, Vologda received support – the New Year’s capital of 2027, as well as Novosibirsk region, Khabarovsk Krai, and Chuvashia – for event projects.
As emphasized by the governor of the Murmansk region, Andrey Chibis, tourism has become a real sector of the economy for the Kola Peninsula, and growth continues: “According to the latest data from Rosstat, over nine months we are among the top three leaders of the Northwest in terms of tourist growth. This is fundamentally important for us. Firstly, it means money stays in the region: in seven years, guests have spent almost 100 billion rubles here, and half of the revenue in cafes and restaurants today comes from tourists. Secondly, the growing passenger flow helps develop infrastructure that residents themselves use: the new terminal in Murmansk, the renovated airport in Apatity, additional flights, the road to Teriberka. The winter season is ahead, and we are ready for it: ten ski resorts are waiting for guests, and 75% of accommodation spots are already booked for the New Year’s holidays. So planning a trip to the North should be done now.”
To make short trips out of town and to neighboring regions convenient, the ministry is developing special infrastructure for them. Auto tourism: the “Travel.rf” portal features 131 car routes, most of which are for weekend trips. Events: so that people know where to go during the holidays, a calendar has been compiled on the portal – it already includes more than 250 events for New Year and Christmas.
The Deputy Minister of Economic Development, Dmitry Vakhrukov, reported on the measures of state support within the framework of the national project “Tourism and Hospitality.”
Co-reporting on preparations for the winter season were the regional heads: Alexey Teksler (Chelyabinsk Oblast), Mikhail Vedernikov (Pskov Oblast), and Mikhail Kotyukov (Krasnoyarsk Krai). They spoke about plans for infrastructure development and attracting visitors to their territories.
About preparations for the celebration of the 60th anniversary of the “Golden Ring” route in 2027, Valery Sidorenko, the first deputy head of the Government Office, spoke. He reported that the approach to the development of this direction is changing: it is planned to move to a unified tourist space that will unite territories with common routes, partnership programs, an events calendar, and digital services. By order of the President, a coordination council for the development of small historic settlements of the “Golden Ring” is being created, and under it – a club of investors and entrepreneurs.
“An anniversary is not just a date. It’s an opportunity to rethink the route itself: to make it not just a set of points on a map, but a living space where history, culture, and business work together. And most importantly, to involve young people in this space so that the ‘Golden Ring’ becomes familiar to new generations, not just a museum,” noted Valery Sidorenko.
During the business trip, Dmitry Chernyshenko and Maxim Reshetnikov also inspected the infrastructure of the “Bolshoy Vudyavr” ski resort – one of the key winter recreation facilities in the Murmansk region. They checked how the slopes, lifts, and service facilities were prepared for receiving guests and discussed the further development of the resort.
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