Media: tour operators asked Lavrov to simplify tourists entering Russia – RIA Novosti

MOSCOW, March 1 -. RIA Novosti Russian travel companies are asking the Foreign Ministry to simplify entry to foreign travelers, in particular, they propose to introduce electronic visa and give Europeans the possibility of visa-free transit, wrote on Tuesday the newspaper “Kommersant”.

According to media reports, the corresponding letter, Sergei Lavrov, sent by representatives of eight travel companies.

The first step for the unilateral liberalization of the visa regime should be the introduction of electronic visas and visas on arrival, the authors of the letter believe, among them the head of Intourist Thomas Cook, City Sightseeing Moscow and “Academservice”. In addition, they believe, could act visa-free transit system within 72 hours for the citizens of Western European countries.

Tour operators are confident that these measures will have a strong support for the industry. In particular, the complete abolition of visas would increase inbound flow into Russia from Europe and the US by 30-40%. The general director of Intourist Thomas Cook Leonid Marmer expects the abolition of visas will increase the number of tourists from European countries is 25-30% in the first year.

The idea of ​​simplifying the visa regime in Russia is not new. The head of the Federal Tourism Agency Oleg Safronov last summer at a meeting in Simferopol to discuss the topic of introduction of electronic visas. State Duma deputies proposed to simplify the entry to Russia for tourists coming to major sporting and cultural events, and staying in Russia no more than 15 days. President Vladimir Putin, in turn, gave the order to abolish visas for tourists from BRICS countries, but the initiative had not been realized.

Technically, the EU and Russia visa dialogue is frozen because of the conflict in Ukraine. At the same time Moscow is based on the principles of reciprocity, demanding to Russians the same preferences, which is ready to give to foreigners.

Many Western politicians urged Brussels to return to the discussion of visa facilitation with Russia, appealing not only to the political, but also to financial aspects of the problem – tourism brings significant cash infusion in the budget of any country

.