Foreign tourists have spent a record 864 billion rubles ($13.6 billion) in 2018 in Moscow, City Hall said Wednesday.
Some 5.5 million foreign tourists visited the Russian capital last year, according to the mayor’s office. The influx placed Moscow in the top-20 list of the most visited European capitals last year, City Hall said.
Thanks to the increase, Moscow’s budget revenues from tourism quadrupled from 2010 and totaled 118 billion rubles ($1.8 billion) last year, deputy mayor Vladimir Yefimov said Wednesday.
A recent survey of international tourists has suggested that many are not traveling to Moscow because they think it’s too expensive and unsafe.
Meanwhile, the Boston Consulting Group forecast that Moscow could be among the world’s fastest-growing tourist destinations by 2025 if its administration adopted a comprehensive strategy tailored toward improving potential visitors’ experiences.
Officials say they expect 15 percent more tourists in 2019 due to the positive image created by the FIFA World Cup last summer.