January 30, 2014. This year, the inflow of foreign travelers to Sverdlovsk Region might increase because of a simplified visa issuance procedure for the in-transit passengers; this simplified procedure option is now being discussed by the legislative authorities. The procedure in question would mean that transit passengers from 45 different countries arriving to Russian airports would be able to enjoy a 72-hour visa-free admission regime here, Director of Tourism Development Center Elmira Tukanova said at a press conference.

‘We made sure we took part in the international exhibitions in those European countries where this 72-hour visa-free admission regime might become available starting from June 1. This means that citizens of quite a few countries will be able to stay in Russia for three days without a visa. Yekaterinburg Airport is one of the places that can welcome such transit passengers. We can hope that, provided we present Sverdlovsk Region’s potential at the European fairs this spring, the inflow of foreign tourists will increase. This is why we decided to focus on the countries where direct flights to Yekaterinburg are available,’ Tukanova said.

This year, Sverdlovsk Region will take part in a number of international tourist fairs. The focus will be on the countries where direct flights to Yekaterinburg are available. Sverdlovsk Region representatives are already expected at Holiday World in Prague on February 20-23, at the ITB in Berlin on March 5-9, at InTourMarket (ITM) in Moscow on March 15-18, at Leisure-Otdykh 2014 in Moscow on September 16-19, and at INWETEX – CISTRAVELMARKET in Saint Petersburg on October 9-11.

However, they had to give up on the idea of joining the World Travel Market event in London because now direct flights are offered between London and Yekaterinburg any longer. This has already resulted in fewer foreign visitors to the Urals’ capital, which means this particular destination is not very promising at the moment.