Remarkable routes and resort fun: what makes Moscow a tourism pacesetter
The global tourism industry continues to recover from the pandemic, while Moscow has reached and even exceeded the pre-COVID levels as the domestic tourist flow grew by 22 per cent in 2023 compared to the record-breaking year of 2019. In the domestic market, the business tourism segment remains at 20 per cent, while the number of business trips increased by 28 per cent in 2023 on a year-to-year basis, the Russian capital maintaining a high pace of development in the travel industry thanks to improved infrastructure, new programs and focus on industry trends. Some significant tourism projects of the last year show which global industry trends serve as a beacon for present-day Moscow and how they help the city become better both for guests and residents themselves.
Digital technology for travelers
Digital tools are essential at every stage of a journey, more than 70 per cent of tourists use mobile apps to book services and plan their trips, in particular, to Moscow. The Russpass travel tool has been helping with this for three years. Originally launched as a local project, it has grown to become a digital ecosystem on a national scale; over its history, its services have been used 11 million times. It is becoming increasingly popular as over the 11 months of 2023 registrations on Russpass were four times more frequent than a year before.
In 2023, it got improved navigation and other functions and was also used as a driver of the Russia.Travel national portal to be a single platform that will unite market players and open up new opportunities for boosting both domestic and inbound tourism.
Talks between the municipality and the business community
In 2023, Moscow hosted three major tourism conferences that brought together more than 1,000 guests, including representatives of Russian and foreign hospitality industries, organizers of congress and exhibition events, and experts in business, industrial, educational and other types of tourism. Such big events make it possible for Muscovites involved in the industry to gain experience and networking opportunities, while the city can improve the quality of services.
The local government is quite attentive to interests of the industry and backs it in handling real-world problems, indeed. For example, since 2023 organizers of business events have benefited from visiting museums, cultural centers and mansions; not all of them are known as venues for business meetings, forums or congresses, therefore, such visits help to build business ties with the relevant sites.
To participate in an inspection visit or other local event for the tourism industry, you can register on the Russpass. Business website, which became part of the Russpass ecosystem in June 2023 to provide industry actors with up-to-date industry analytics and convenient professional tools from a grant calculator to a calendar of events.
Last year, one of the main events for the Moscow tourism industry was the Meet Global MICE Congress, the first international business tourism meeting, which took place in the Russian capital and brought together professionals from 14 countries, in particular, 67 delegates from abroad, including India, China, the Middle East, the CIS and Southeast Asia; representatives of the Russian and foreign MICE industries held more than 400 business negotiations. It is expected to serve as Eurasia’s focal platform for interaction within the business travel industry.
Gastro tourism
The choice and variety of cuisine becomes an important point when preparing for travel as international tourists spend 34 per cent on restaurants and dining, in the case of Russian travelers the relevant expenses are the second largest after shopping costs, every fourth regional tourist visiting a popular Moscow restaurant or bar.
The growth of gastro tourism is boosted by dedicated municipal programs; for example, the Russian capital hosted several seasons of the Moscow Breakfast project, in addition to the cultural and gastronomic program called the Moscow Tea Party, local fests that alternate from season to season paying a special focus on gastro spots offering amazing cuisine concepts.
A resort town
Moscow follows the global trend towards an all-season tourist offer and is becoming a kind of resort city due to world-class accommodation options, a huge number of green areas and parks, and opportunities for active recreation, such as skiing or Nordic walking. In winter, more than 4,000 sites, including ski trails, ice or snow towns, and ice slides, are available to travelers, while in summertime tourists can enjoy over 900 parks and green areas, plus dozens of beaches.
The city also offers exciting, although not very long hiking tours along an extensive network of eco trails spanning more than 40 kilometers, for example, the Barefoot Trail in Losiny Ostrov Park or the aerial eco trail at VDNKh.
Moscow is driving cruise tourism, too. After restoration, they re-opened two trendy river stations in the north and in the south, which offer a range of routes for tourists to explore the city from the water and also have a journey along the Volga.
VR and historical traditions
People are increasingly coming to megacities for extraordinary experiences and new emotions; impressions are coming to the fore. That is why in order to boost cultural and educational tourism, Moscow successfully employs new formats, including state-of-the-art technologies, while interest in excursions in the Russian capital has doubled over 10 years. There are in fact 121 VR entertainment centers in the city, the technology is also used at lots of educational interactive museums, such as the Smart City pavilion or the Engage VR interactive amusement park at VDNKh.
Audio guides are becoming increasingly popular as well and everything you need is to choose a theme and hit the road with your phone and headphones. Dozens of such tours, which are voiced by famous actors, presenters, and professional tour guides, are available on Russpass; Moscow also offers hundreds of exclusive tours.
The municipality carefully approaches the revival of its historical traditions. The Mansions of Moscow festival has gained great popularity with both residents and travelers. Cluing on about what city life was like centuries ago, the project became so popular that it was repeated this winter, its entertainment program including a 19 th-century salon, real-life balls, old Russian games, tea parties, and poetry soirées.
Partnerships between cities and amazing routes
Tourism products often evolve into entire ecosystems, and there are also more and more partnerships between cities as 70 per cent of Russian tourists combine Moscow and other destinations in one trip. In recent years, the city has offered several interregional trips under the Moscow + brand; for example, in 2022, Moscow, St. Petersburg and Nizhny Novgorod made up a joint event calendar under the Three Capitals: From Dawn to Dusk project, while 2023 saw a rise of Moscow + Moscow Region. Two Rhythms of an Ideal Journey and Russian Holidays. From the Capital of Russia to the Capital of Siberia projects, the latter combining Moscow and Tyumen and including four routes of Russian tour operators with the opportunity to visit both the most famous and unusual places, since travelers are no longer happy with just basic attractions, wishing to explore local landmarks and enjoy exclusive routes.
Tourism media outlets are increasingly focusing on traveling not to another continent, but to a neighboring region; there are 146 of them in the Russian capital, each with its own twist.
Over the past six months alone, the online Russpass Magazine has published more than 600 articles about Moscow.
Most visited events
August — September 2023, the city hosted the record biggest Moscow Urban Forum, which was held at four venues at once to offer not just business events as its attendees were going snowboarding at Luzhniki, watching the latest Moscow Central Diameter trains at the Manege or learning about local healthcare at Gostiny Dvor.
Now the Russian capital is hosting the Russia International Exhibition and Forum, the most grandiose and longest demonstration of the country’s main achievements, which has ever taken place in winter, to highlight success and best practices in science, culture, industry, energy, transport and construction in all Russian regions. Another local tradition is the Journey to Christmas festival; this year Moscow is hosting its 10 th edition.
Educational and multi-generational travel experiences
Boasting well-developed infrastructure and exclusive themed-specific projects, Moscow was named the Capital of Children’s Tourism 2024 since it is for the fourth year that it has been running an educational tourism project known as the Discovery City for schoolchildren to gain insight into some popular jobs, while exploring Moscow.
A survey of residents in 10 regions from which travelers most often come to Moscow proves that a quarter of them visit the city precisely to show the capital to their children as Moscow offers a range of tours, master classes and outdoor adventures for city dwellers and tourists of any age to find something they would enjoy.
