Tatarstan aims to boost tourist numbers to 4.4 million by 2028
But the target may well be exceeded
Despite the challenges of recent years caused by the pandemic and sanctions restrictions, Tatarstan’s tourism sector is showing confident recovery and growth. In 2024, the republic was visited by 4.3 million guests — almost twice the figure of a decade ago. Meanwhile, further official plans for the development of the industry are less ambitious — by 2028 the government intends to increase tourist numbers to 4.4 million, and the volume of paid tourist services (excluding related sectors) to 41 billion rubles. At the same time, the State Committee for Tourism of the Republic of Tatarstan told Realnoe Vremya that the plan is likely to be exceeded. More details about changes to the state programme for the development of tourism in Tatarstan can be found in the publication’s report.
Tourist numbers up 72% in ten years
The Tatarstan Cabinet has published an order introducing changes to the state programme for the development of tourism and hospitality in the region. In it, the authorities updated current indicators and revised plans through 2028.
“The COVID-19 pandemic, unprecedented sanctions restrictions from unfriendly countries and regular drone attacks on airports and cities of the Republic of Tatarstan significantly reduced not only inbound tourism figures but also complicated doing business inside the country due to the withdrawal of online booking aggregators from the market, the cessation of activities of international hotel operators and the deterioration of the situation with air travel and flight safety,” the document states.
However, Tatarstan’s tourism sector managed to recover and even expand its performance. Over the ten years of the programme’s implementation, the tourist flow to the republic increased by 72% — from 2.5 million people in 2014 to 4.3 million in 2024. The economic effect was even more significant: the volume of paid tourism services, including related industries, increased 6.5 times — from 16.3 to 106.8 billion rubles.
Tourism infrastructure also continued to develop. As of 1 January 2025, Tatarstan has 674 collective accommodation facilities with a total of 27,494 rooms. The average hotel occupancy rate remains steadily high and reached 73% in 2024. The sector is supported by 125 tour operators included in the federal register.
The main task is developing an ecosystem
The new edition of the state programme sets clear targets for the period up to 2028. The main goal is “increasing the competitiveness of Tatarstan’s tourism complex on the Russian and international tourism markets”. The plans include achieving the following indicators:
- increasing tourist flow to 4.4 million people by 2028;
- increasing the volume of paid tourism services (excluding related sectors) to 41 billion rubles;
- training at least 680 tourism specialists annually.
It should be noted that earlier the Chairman of the Tatarstan State Tourism Committee, Sergei Ivanov, spoke of a plan to welcome 4.5 million tourists already by the end of 2025. According to data for January–September, tourists made 3.6 million trips to the republic, Rosstat reports.
As part of the programme, Tatarstan is focusing on developing its recreational complex. In particular, by 2028 it plans to create the Kazan Marina complex, the Potashnye Gory cluster and build new facilities along the Volga Trail.
Special attention is being paid to the development of the “Great Volga Route” interregional tourist routes, under which more than 20 routes have already been developed. Transport accessibility is also set to improve, including through renewal of the river passenger fleet and tourist-class bus fleet.
As Sergei Ivanov, Chairman of the Tatarstan State Tourism Committee, told Realnoe Vremya, the main priority in the updated programme is the creation of a comprehensive hospitality ecosystem. This also includes the development of transport infrastructure.
“We have strengthened the focus on developing tourism infrastructure in promising areas, improving service quality and digitalising the industry, as well as introducing additional support measures for entrepreneurs. We consider all programme indicators achievable, and the most promising for over-delivery — the growth of domestic tourism and the increase in visitors’ length of stay. Our main task is to ensure effective coordination among all market participants, increase recognition of the Tatarstan brand, create new jobs and develop the potential of small towns and rural areas,” he said.
Kazan ranks fourth in hotel bookings
According to hotel bookings made for 2025, Kazan ranks fourth among all Russian destinations with a 3.1% share. This was reported to Realnoe Vremya by Elena Shelekhova, head of the press service of the OneTwoTrip travel planning service.
According to her, on average tourists stay in the republic’s capital for 2.3 days. A year ago this figure was 2.1 days. An average night in a booked room costs 9,000 rubles.
“As for plans to increase tourist flow to Tatarstan, any improvement in tourism infrastructure certainly has a positive effect: the region becomes more attractive and interesting for travellers. And as we see from the statistics, tourists are already beginning to explore the republic more deeply, spending more time here,” Shelekhova said.
Overall, the expert believes that the strong side of Tatarstan’s hospitality ecosystem is its cultural heritage.
“In addition, the hotel segment is very well developed here: travellers can find many accommodation options in different price ranges and with different sets of services. But for a more pronounced increase in tourist flow, targeted investment in the even development of the entire region — that is, areas and cities outside the capital — could be useful,” she concluded.