Loading ...With the European Championship of Football just wrapped up in Moscow, Russia, the InterContinental Hotels Group is pushing for less restrictions on visa requirements. The success of the Championship match that was won by Manchester United, who slept at the InterContinental owned Crowne Plaza, has led to more confidence that more foreigners in Moscow is not a bad thing.
Chief Operating Officer of IHG Robin Wicks says, “The Russian authorities have done a sterling job fast-tracking its complex visa process to ensure the 50,000 British soccer fans who went to Moscow could get there at short notice. We applaud their actions.
This goes to show it can be done. But Russia’s current visa process is simply far too slow and is seriously hampering the emerging tourist trade. By adopting similar measures to those used for the Manchester United and Chelsea fans, the volume of tourism traffic could dramatically rise.”
With fewer visa restrictions, Russia could certainly profit from an increased tourist presence, and all the better if this football match was the catalyst for that.