Putin mulls visa-free entry for Brics group

Move to raise tourist inflows

RUSSIA might offer visa-free entry for tourist groups from India, Brazil and South Africa as fellow members of the Brics (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) group of countries, President Vladimir Putin said yesterday.

Global competition to attract foreign tourists is tough and Russia has lagged behind significantly in developing infrastructure and services, Putin told a meeting of the State Council in Yalta, Crimea.

Russia’s annexation of the Black Sea peninsula from Ukraine in March last year prompted US and EU sanctions that have helped tip the Russian economy into its first recession since 2009.

Extension

“Liberalising the visa regime almost always leads to an increase in tourist inflows” and it was worth considering an extension of visa-free travel already enjoyed by tour groups from China to other Brics countries, Putin said.

Visits from Israel doubled after visas were abolished, while those from Turkey grew 41 percent, he said.

The rouble has tumbled 45 percent against the dollar in the past 12 months, the world’s worst-performing currency among more than 150 tracked by Bloomberg, amid a slide in oil prices and the impact of sanctions over the conflict in Ukraine. Amid the worst international tensions since the Cold War, tourism numbers from the EU fell in the first quarter, while Russians hit hard by the currency’s decline also cut back foreign travel.

The rouble’s decline made Russia more attractive as a destination, while domestic tourism grew by almost 30 percent last year as Russians priced out of travel abroad took holidays at home, Putin said.

The inflow of foreign visitors to the country rose 16 percent in the first quarter to 7.35 million, of which more than 255 000 were tourists, according to official statistics.

China provided the largest number of tourists in the first quarter, at 41 000, followed by Turkey and Israel. It was important “to promote opportunities for recreation and travel in Russia, both domestically and abroad”, Putin said.

As many as 4 million state officials are barred from international travel by the Kremlin, RBC newspaper reported in May. Putin was pressing for a visa-free regime with the EU before the start of the Ukrainian crisis, which has prompted the Kremlin to turn away from Europe and towards closer ties with the Brics group of countries.