Rostourism had overseen the provision of state services related to tourism across Russia since it was established in 2004, overseeing big-ticket events such as the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
The decision to abolish the agency comes at a time of turmoil for Russia’s tourism industry, with strict Western sanctions imposed on Moscow for its invasion iof Ukraine and the suspension of flights from most European countries.
Over the past three years, the number of foreign tourists arriving in Russia has continued to decrease, according to Dmitry Gorin, the vice president of the Russian Union of Travel Industry, "Izvestia" reported in August. “Over the past three years, due to pandemic restrictions, the absence of electronic visas, and now the impossibility of making payments using foreign bank cards and the absence of direct flights, the overall percentage of the drop in tourist flow to the Russian Federation averaged 95-97%,” Gorin said.
The Economic Development Ministry supervised Rostourism starting from the fall of 2018, prior to which the agency reported to the Culture Ministry. Shortly after that, Dmitry Medvedev, who was Russia's prime minister at the time, replaced Oleg Safonov with Zarina Doguzova as head of Rostourism and ordered the Economic Development Ministry to oversee the agency's functions more actively. The deputy minister of economic development in charge of the tourism sector was then Sergei Galkin, who was appointed as director of the Russian Federal Statistics Service in the spring of 2022.
harge of the tourism sector will be appointed, and candidates for this post are still being discussed.
The Economic Development Ministry's press service also told reporters that, in accordance with the president's decree, the ministry will be responsible for working out and implementing state policy, statutory regulation, coordination of work with regard to priority avenues of state regulation in the tourism sector and will oversee the functioning of tour operators on behalf of the state.
"The ministry has all the necessary powers to develop and implement socioeconomic development programs, issue licenses and accredit legal entities and individual entrepreneurs that will help intensify the development of the tourism sector. The decision adopted by the president of the Russian Federation will help enhance the efficiency of the Tourism and Hospitality Industry national project, which involves 17 federal agencies, all of the country's regions and the business community," the ministry said.
Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko will continue to supervise the tourism sector on behalf of the government, it said.
Tags: Rostourism
