Russia’s New Digital Push to Attract Global Travelers Faces One Major Hurdle
Photo Credit: Visitors walking around the iconic Moscow Kremlin Flickr Commons / flowcomm
Skift Take
The RUSSPASS app is a major competitive step in boosting Russia's appeal as a tourist destination. But no e-visa, no dice. The two must go hand in hand.
Traveling to and exploring Russia has been made easier for global travelers — at least, that’s the message the government is sending with RUSSPASS, a one-stop digital app and platform that soft launched in July 2020.
Tourists and residents can search and book a number of experiences listed on the app — flight deals to Moscow, train tickets to the interior across all regions, hotel stays, tours and restaurants — directly from their smartphones.
There are also options to reserve museum tickets, sign up for multi-day tours, go on self-guided walking routes or discover historical and cultural tips from the integrated travel magazine.
It’s probably not what the average traveler would expect from a country often stereotyped as an “evil empire” by the West from the Cold War days and one where politics transcend tourism, with accusations of meddling in U.S. elections and having questionable human rights practices.
But busting this stereotype through travel seems to be
