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economy. According to ATOR, Intourist is a leader in the market of organized inbound tourism. Topolkaraev is confident that inbound tourism will grow if the authorities are engaged in improving the mechanisms for applying electronic visas, as well as reduce the cost of multiple long-term visas. He also considers it necessary to increase the transport accessibility of the Russian regions. In particular, this could be facilitated by the admission of low-cost airlines to tourist routes and the promotion of direct inter-regional air transport.
Russian state-controlled integrated telecom major Rostelecom won the state tender to connect state institutions to a fibre optic internet in 12 Russian regions, Kommersant daily said on June 11 citing unnamed sources. Reportedly Rostelecom won the tender with a bid of RUB2.75bn for the work, which is two times less than the starting price of the proposal. The company will reportedly get fibre internet connection contracts in 12 out of 14 regions from the tender, connecting law enforcement agency branches, local authority offices, hospitals, educational institutions, etc. Fixed broadband revenues gained 9% year-on-year in 1Q19 and helped Rostelecom's revenues grow by 3% y/y in the reporting quarter. Overall the state fixed broadband connection programme amounted to RUB143bn ($2.2bn) until 2021, with over 100,000 objects to be connected.
9.1.9 Tourism sector news
The Central Bank of Russia reports that Russians last year spent $34bn on travel services abroad, a 9% increase from 2017.
Turkey, Germany, Spain, Thailand and Italy topped the list of countries in Russian travel spending. Russian tourism abroad is highly dependent on the purchasing power of income earned in Russia. In 2014–2016, the ruble’s external value declined along with the collapse in oil prices, but since then it has remained rather stable. As nominal wages have grown, Russian wage- earners have seen a slight improvement in their foreign purchasing power.
Foreign visitors last year spent 12bn dollars on Russian travel services, a 27% increase from 2017. Earnings on tourism services were boosted last summer by Russia’s hosting of the FIFA World Cup championships.
96 RUSSIA Country Report July 2019 www.intellinews.com