Visa-free travel to Russia for Indian travellers expected by spring 2025

Planning a trip to Russia? Well, it might be hassle free in the coming months. As per the latest news reports, Indian travellers will soon be able to enjoy visa-free travel to Russia, potentially as early as spring 2025. This development, confirmed by Evgeny Kozlov, Chairman of the Moscow City Tourism Committee, will likely boost the number of Indian travellers visiting Moscow.

Referring to this, Kozlov stated that the objective of this endeavour, which is now being discussed, is to boost tourism in the Russian capital by relaxation of travel restrictions for Indian visitors. India has already emerged as a crucial market for Russia, with more than 28,500 Indian tourists visiting Moscow in the first half of 2024. This figure demonstrates an incredible 1.5-fold increase in comparison to the same period in 2023. In addition, India was among the top non-CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States) countries in terms of tourists visiting Moscow, with over 60,000 visitors by the end of 2023—a significant 26% increase from 2022.

Records add that some of the primary highlights of Russia that lure Indian tourists are leisure, cultural discovery, and business. Meanwhile, as per the records, India has emerged as a major market for business tourism in Moscow due to the rise in popularity of travel for work and commercial purposes.

Reports add that India ranked third among non-CIS countries for business visitors in the first quarter of 2024, which indicates the close economic and commercial relations between Russia and India. Kozlov noted that Moscow officials view India as an important market due to the two nations’ longstanding diplomatic and cultural ties.

Indian tourists can currently apply for an e-visa to visit Russia, albeit the process typically takes four days. India rose among the top five countries for issuing electronic visas, issuing over 9,500 of them in 2023, or about 6% of all electronic visas granted to foreign citizens. Kozlov added that around 1,700 e-visas were issued to Indian travellers in January 2024 alone.

Moscow has emerged as one of the top travel destinations for both leisure and business travellers, and lure travellers with its exciting festivals, international exhibitions, summits, and conferences. It’s planning to create 25,700 hotel rooms by 2030 to handle the expected inflow of tourists, and is also hoping to draw more Indian weddings.

This visa-free travel initiative would not only simplify the process for Indian tourists to visit Russia, but will also strengthen cultural and economic ties between India and Russia. It will also facilitate the travel of Indian travellers, and help them to plan hassle-free travel to the country.

Originally published at TIMESOFINDIA