Moscow Study

From the MT:

“Tourists Avoid Moscow Due to Perceived High Costs, Lack of Safety – Study”

Tourists are not traveling to Moscow because they think it’s too expensive and unsafe, according to a Boston Consulting Group (BCG) survey obtained by Russia’s RBC news website on Tuesday. BCG polled 3,500 tourists and classified their answers into two categories to reflect the respondents’ biases and structural barriers. The consulting group didn’t disclose the percentages of each response. BCG said responses that mentioned high costs, lack of safety and excessively long flights to Moscow were filed under the “biases” category, RBC cited its research as saying.  “Potential tourists form an image based on their stereotypes about Russia,” the agency was quoted as saying. Responses naming Russia’s poor geopolitical image, difficulties with obtaining a visa and a language barrier were categorized as “structural barriers,” BCG said. The consulting firm forecast that Moscow could be among the world’s fastest-growing tourist destinations by 2025 if its administration adopts a comprehensive strategy tailored toward improving potential visitors’ experiences.

^ I have been to Moscow many times and have to agree with this study. Moscow is one of the most expensive cities in the world as well as one that isn’t very non-Russian speaking tourist friendly cities. When I first went to Moscow I didn’t speak a word of Russian and even having to pay the higher non-Russian price to museums, on tours, etc. there was almost no one who could or would speak English. It was hard to find an English speaker even in the airport and train stations. It wasn’t until I became fluent in Russian that going to Moscow stopped being so confusing and scary. That includes when I was stopped by a Russian police man in the Metro and asked to show my documents. He only spoke Russian even when he saw my American Passport and Russian Visa. He tried to prolong the ID check – most likely to get a bribe – by asking me why my Passport was blue (because I was American) and why it wasn’t in Russian (because I was American.) It wasn’t until I took out my cell phone and told him – in Russian – that I was going to call the American Embassy so they could translate everything.  He handed me back my documents and quickly left. Whether you speak Russian or not I think of Moscow like the Wild West of 1800s America. Anything goes as long as you have money and influence. With that said Moscow also has a lot to offer in terms of entertainment, food, museums and is pretty fun. If you speak Russian or have someone who speaks Russian with you at all times then Moscow is a really interesting and a good place for tourists to go. It’s a shame that more and more Russians living in Moscow – especially those in the hospitality and tourist industry – do not speak English or any other language besides Russian. If they did then I know more foreign tourists would go and get to experience that great city. ^

https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2019/06/04/tourists-avoid-moscow-due-to-perceived-high-costs-lack-of-safety-study-a65867