Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin signed a decree approving the rules for partial reimbursement of expenses to Russians who will decide to rest in Russian regions by the end of the year. The corresponding document was published on the website of the Cabinet.

"Compensation for the purchase of Russian tours will be automatically credited to the cards of tourists within five days from the date of payment for the trip," the document says.

It is noted that prerequisites for obtaining cashback are trips (organized tours, cruises and separate hotel accommodation for those who travel on their own) lasting at least four nights and no less than 25 thousand rubles, which are paid with a Mir card.

The list of offers will be available on the mirtravel.rf website from August 21 to August 28, while cashback trips to the busiest destinations will be available from October 1 to the end of 2020.

It also indicates how much money will be returned to tourists when paying for the tours. So, those who spend more than 25 thousand rubles on vacation will receive 5 thousand rubles back, with expenses of 50 thousand rubles or more cashback will be 10 thousand rubles. For a tour costing over 75 thousand rubles, 15 thousand rubles will be returned.

As follows from the government decree, 15 billion rubles have been allocated for the implementation of the program.

As Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko noted yesterday during a meeting of the government's coordinating council to combat the spread of the new coronavirus infection in the Russian Federation, the authorities expect that about 3 million people will take part in the cashback program for buying tours. According to him, more than 700 tour operators and over 3 thousand hotels have already joined the program.

In addition, it became known about the launch of a hotline for citizens of the Russian Federation, where they can get all the necessary information about this program.

“Rostourism is closely involved in organizational issues, we decided to help them. And the All-Russian Popular Front, together with the Association "Tourist Assistance", with the support of the All-Russian action "We Are Together", is opening a hotline on cashback issues. Number: 8-800-200-34-11. Our volunteers are already ready to answer all your questions, the call is free, ”said Denis Polunchukov, an expert of the All-Russian Popular Front.

  • Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin
  • RIA News
  • © Dmitry Astakhov

On July 22, Mikhail Mishustin, during a speech in the State Duma with a report on the work of the Cabinet of Ministers, called tourism one of the promising sectors of the Russian economy and stated the need to support the sector during the coronavirus epidemic.

“Today this industry is in a difficult situation, and it is necessary not only to support it, but also to provide conditions for dynamic development, including opening up new opportunities for domestic tourism,” the Russian Prime Minister said.

The millionth tourist in Sochi

On the eve of the press service of the administration of the city of Sochi reported that the city-resort has been visited by the millionth tourist since the beginning of the summer swimming season (June 1). It was Anna Ryzhkova, who came to the city with her husband and two children.

“This is not the first time we have rest here, it is always a pleasure to return to this city. Now we will rest here for a week and hope to visit as many interesting and picturesque places as possible during this time. Thank you so much for your attention, ”she said.

It is noted that the Ryzhkov family received a certificate for visiting the Exarho farm, as well as a number of memorable gifts from the Sochi administration and hotel staff.

Along with this, the director of the department of resorts and tourism of the Sochi administration Svetlana Batyaykina indicated that there are currently about 220 thousand tourists in the city.

Earlier, the head of Crimea, Sergei Aksyonov, said that 1.4 million tourists rested in the region in July. According to him, the utilization rate for a number of objects was 95%.

“From 1 to 31 July, 1 million 432 thousand tourists rested in Crimea. Of these, 31.9% arrived by air, 62.7% - across the Crimean bridge by cars and buses, 5% - by rail, less than 1% - across the state border of the Russian Federation on the Armyansk, Dzhankoy, Perekop section, "the head of the region said. ...

Let us remind you that from August 1, Russia has restored international air traffic with Great Britain, Turkey and Tanzania. Also on this day, the borders with Abkhazia were opened. Flights with Switzerland are expected to resume on 15 August. At the same time, nine states announced their readiness to receive Russian tourists.

At the same time, Russia's Permanent Representative to the European Union Vladimir Chizhov urged the citizens of the country not to expect that air traffic with the countries of the European Union will be resumed by the end of August.

“I would not like to upset anyone, but I am afraid that the summer season will have time to pass before such a practical opportunity appears,” RIA Novosti quotes him.