In the end of March, 2013, the TripAdvisor, world's largest travel web-portal, asked its users about the Russian visa waiver that is currently being looked into by the country's ministry of culture. Let us remind you that the Russian government has came forward with a possible cancellation of entry permits for tourists from "safe" countries wishing to stay in Russia for up to 10 days. Thus, the TripAdvisor carried out a polling asking if this move is to make the destination more attractive. Some 20 thousand people from the USA, the UK, France, Italy, Spain, Germany, Australia and Japan took part in the survey.
And the polling has showed that most travelers from these countries receive the news quite positively: for 65% (from 69% in Italy to 56% in the USA) of them the visa waiver would become a good motivation for a trip to Russia. At that, 45% of the respondents said that the possibility of such a trip would grow significantly. Another 20% said that the visa waiver would make them start considering Russia as a destination for their holiday.
The citizens of Italy, Spain, and quite surprisingly Australia appear to be the most rejoiced over the possible visa waiver: 69%, 67%, and 66% of tourists from the respective countries shared their plans to visit Russia. For 36% of the American respondents the Russian government's move won't affect their travel plans. Perhaps it has something to do with the recent agreement on the visa regime facilitation between Russia and the USA that made it easier for the Americans to get a Russian visa.
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