Russian tourists returned 1 billion rubles in cashback

In just two weeks after the start of the tourist cashback program, 1 billion rubles returned to the accounts of Russians. This is the fifth part of the annual budget of the program, Zarina Doguzova, head of Rostourism, said in an interview with Izvestia.

“The program is very popular, the dynamics are many times higher than at previous stages – and this despite the low season. Two weeks after the start of the program, 200,000 people took advantage of the program, who purchased tours or hotel accommodation for 5 billion rubles. 1 billion rubles have already been returned to tourists in the form of cashback,” said Zarina Doguzova.

She recalled that you can go on trips with cashback until April 30, and on a cruise until the end of May.

“Given the huge interest in the program, we advise tourists to hurry up and not postpone the purchase until later. We have a money limit for this year (5 billion rubles – Izvestia), and we divided the amount into two stages: winter-spring and autumn-winter. Therefore, the number of “cashbacks” is limited,” added the head of Rostourism.

Answering the question whether the allocated funds would be enough to compensate everyone, Zarina Doguzova noted that there is a maximum amount that Rostourism agreed with the Ministry of Finance – 5 billion rubles.

“Do not forget that this year the cashback will work for the first time as it was originally intended, clearly in the off-season. In the previous stages of the program, we captured the peak dates of the May and New Year holidays. Therefore, we will see how the cashback works this year, and only at the end of the year we will make a decision on adjustments to the main parameters, including financial ones,” she concluded.

Read more in an exclusive interview with Izvestia:

“Russia suffers enormous losses due to the stoppage of inbound tourism”