International Tourism In The Soviet Union I n The Era Of Glasnost And Perestroyka

Abstract

Political changes since 1985 have created opportunities for foreign tourism in the Soviet Union because many previously closed areas are now open to tourists. Official government figures do reflect an increase in tourism, from less than 500,000 in 1956 to more than 6 million in 1988, although many tourists are from Soviet bloc countries or are private visitors — e.g., trasnport service crews. A tourism infrastructure which would attract visitors from hard-currency countries is not in place and may be some time developing, since tourism development has been given a low priority in Soviet economic planning. For this reason adventure tourism and scientific tourism, which do not rely on a traditional mass-tourist infrastructure, are the most likely to grow immediately. Other kinds of tourism will have to await a radical perestroyka (reconstruction) rather than the cosmetic perestroyka now undervay.