In the last ten years, foreign tourism to Russia dropped by 70%, and overall tourism in Russia dropped by 50%. In 2004 the profit from tourism was $24 million, which is barely 1% of country's GDP, said Vladimir Strzhalkovsky, Chief of Federal Tourism Committee in Russian Senate. Russian tourists took $20 billion abroad last year but spent just $1 billion traveling at home. Foreigners spent about $2 billion total in Russia, according to Rosturist.

Russia has a lot to offer, from sunny beaches, to Siberian hunting. What are the reasons for such statistics? First of all it's the prices. The average "cheap" trip to Russia costs $1,500, while Turkey or Egypt can offer 5-star all-inclusive hotel for two weeks for less than $1,000. The second problem is bureaucracy; whenever you visit a new town in Russia you have to register with the local police within 3 days of your visit, which is almost impossible (even for a Russian). And third, it's lack of advertisement; you probably never see online ads about tours to Russia, with pictures and examples of what you might get for your money.

90% of the tourists never go outside of Moscow and St. Petersburg, because there is almost no place to stay. And Moscow can offer only 10% of its hotels at affordable price; all other hotels are 5-stars, which most tourists are not going to be able to afford.

Russia is barely presented online, which is demonstrated even by this website. There is no regular daily news on Russia, no professional websites about what tourists would want to see, and no trustworthy financial data.

You can read more about tourism in Russia in the article by Christian Science Monitor.