St. Petersburg has not enough guides for travelers from China

Preferences of Chinese tourists traveling to Russia have changed, and because of the increased number of tourists from China, there are not enough guides to satisfy the needs of all Chinese travelers, the chairman of the Northwest regional branch of the Russian Union of Travel Industry Leonid Fleet said. "It's not a secret that the number of tourists from European countries decreased by 15 percent (compared to the summer season 2014), meanwhile the number of tourists from South-East Asia increased. So, the season is to be considered satisfactory in inbound tourism," he said. Chinese tourists prefer the classic programs such as the Europeans, and visit not only St. Petersburg, and the Leningrad region, but also the cities of the Golden Ring. "Since the number of tourists increased, for today there are not ebough guides for everyone. It is hard to find guides with the Chinese language," Flit said. According to him, the Asian tourists in recent years are closer to Europeans in terms of queries. "If at first they chose the cheapest hotels, and were not very interested in our sights, over the years everything has dramatically changed. Fewer and fewer tourists want to stay in three-star hotels, they need four- or five star-accommodation. They are also interested in our history, in our sights," he added.