- By spring 2025, India is expected to have visa-free travel for tourists planning to visit Russia.
- Evgeny Kozlov, chairman of the Moscow City Tourism Committee, highlights India's importance as a priority market due to its strong ties with Russia.
- Moscow has become a key destination for event and business tourism, attracting Indian travelers year-round.
- Since August 2023, Indian travelers can apply for e-visas, with 9,500 issued in 2023, making up 6% of Russia's total.
- In the first quarter of 2024, India was the third-largest source of business tourists from non-CIS countries.
- With visa-free travel from 2025, the two countries aim to boost their relations and also promote tourism between India and Russia.
By spring 2025, the first visa-free tourist groups from India are expected to arrive in Moscow, which will likely lead to a significant increase in Indian travelers.
Evgeny Kozlov, chairman of the Moscow City Tourism Committee, stated, “We anticipate that this agreement, which is currently being developed, will lead to a significant increase in Indian travelers coming to the Russian capital”.
Projecting on India-Russia relations, he said “In the first quarter of this year, India was in third place among visitors from non-CIS countries for the number of business tourists. India is considered by the Moscow authorities as one of the priority markets, taking into account its long-lasting and time-tested relationship with Russia”.
Over the years, Moscow has become an important center for event and business tourism. Thanks to its year-round festivals, exhibitions, summits, and conferences, Russia continues to attract Indian tourists during the whole year. Since August 1 of last year, travelers from India have been able to apply for an e-visa, which takes about four days to process, making the travel easier.
In 2023, India was one of the top five countries for the highest number of e-visas issued, with 9,500 e-visas granted to Indian travelers, accounting for 6% of all e-visas issued by Russia, according to Kozlov.
Kozlov also stated, “In 2023, India ranked among the leaders in the number of travelers visiting Moscow from non-CIS countries. Over the year, more than 60,000 Indian travelers visited the Russian capital, which is a 26% increase from 2022.”
In the first quarter of 2024, India was the third-largest source of business tourists among non-CIS countries, with nearly 1,700 e-visas issued to Indian travelers in January 2024.
Currently, travelers from China and Iran can enter Russia without a visa through a visa-free tourist exchange program. Russia aims to extend this success to India as well, as they plan to launch the new visa-free travel for Indian travellers from spring 2025.
