(Source: http://lenta.ru/news/2015/05/06/russia1)

This year Russia took 45th place in the ranking of competitiveness in the sector of tourism and travel, having risen by 18 positions. This follows from the report “World Economic Forum’s 2015 Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index” prepared by the World Economic Forum at the disposal of “Lenta.ru”.

The previous edition of the ranking was issued in 2013. This year’s ranking included 141 countries. Its first three lines are taken by Spain, France and Germany. According to the World Economic Forum, the strong points of Russia include, first of all, its tourist “resources”: the beauty of nature and cultural attractions (34th and 21st lines, respectively).

At the same time tourism products in Russia are becoming much more competitive in their prices (41st line) due to the reduction of the cost of hotel rooms and the changes in the rouble’s exchange rate. Russia is also characterized by a relatively competitive infrastructure for air transportation (22nd line), the development of this industry showed a notable progress.

The weaknesses of competitiveness of the Russian sector of travel and tourism include, first and foremost, the generally unfavorable business environment (109), a relatively low level of security (126) and international openness (99). In particular, the visa requirements of Russia to the tourists from other countries remain relatively strict (120th line).

The competitiveness is also reduced by the underdeveloped infrastructure of land and water transport (92nd line). Finally, the development of the travel and tourism sector is not a real priority for the Russian government (90th line), and the effectiveness of the strategy of promoting Russia as a place for travel and tourism on the international arena is estimated at a relatively low level (49th line).