An influx of Chinese tourists is expected in St. Petersburg this year thanks to the 100-year anniversary of the October revolution. Local tourism board developed a special “Red Route” leading through the places connected to the historical events of 1917.
According to the tourism committee Smolny, the route is 10 km long. It starts at the cruiser Aurora and ends at the Smolny Institute for Noble Maidens, where on October 25 the All-Russian Congress of Soviets was held. Here, the first Soviet government was formed headed by Vladimir Lenin.
Visit Petersburg, the tourism board, has been promoting the route among potential Chinese tourists since the end of 2016. In St. Petersburg, there are over 200 accredited guides-translators ready to serve the Chinese clientele.
The staff in several hotels that joined the China-friendly Program started learning Chinese and the rooms are being redesigned to provide more comfort to this group of guests. Such rooms are equipped with adapters for Chinese technology and double-beds are removed, since most Chinese tourists prefer single beds.
To attract even more visitors from China, the visa process has been simplified. St. Petersburg nicknamed the Russian Venice, has always been a popular destination for Chinese tourists.
According to The Guardian, it is a must-see city for any traveler in 2017.
Every day, on average 80 tourism groups from China enter Russia. During the New Year’s holidays, St. Petersburg welcomed 4,000 Chinese tourists, which is twice as much as in the same period last year. The figures were reported by the Association of Tour Operators of Russia.
Overall, the city welcomed 390,000 travelers for the New Year, out of which 40,000 people were foreigners. In total, in 2016 St. Petersburg hosted 6.9 million visitors, which is a 6% increase compared to 2015.
