Annual growth in popularity: Kazan welcomes a record 180k tourists during New Year holidays

Almost 200k tourists

During the New Year holidays, from December 29 to January 8, Kazan was visited by a record 180,000 tourists. This is by 6.5% higher than last year. During this time, tourists spent about 1.2 billion rubles in the city, which is by 19% more than last year, Daria Sannikova, the director of the city's tourism development committee, said during the meeting.

“The popularity of Kazan among tourists is also evidenced by the occupancy rates of hotels. The average occupancy of our city's accommodation facilities, according to the Association of Tatarstan and Kazan Hotels, was 79% during the New Year holidays. Peak values were recorded between January 3 and 5, reaching 100%," she added.

According to Sannikova, the Kazan Kremlin remains the most visited object — 268,500 guests visited it during the holidays. This is by 41% higher than last year's figures.

The number of guests of the Riviera Water park increased by 15.6% — it received 23,000 people. The National Museum of the republic was visited by 12,300 tourists, which is by 40% higher than last year's results. The number of people who used the double-decker City Sightseeing tour bus also increased — 1,200 people took a ride on it. The value has increased by 7.5%.

Most Kazan restaurants began accepting bookings for New Year's banquets in the summer and autumn. Their workload during the holidays was 100%, and the revenue of the establishments has increased by 15-20% compared to last year. According to the speaker, this is due to the large number of guests. The average check was 1,200 rubles.

“Interest in Kazan remains strong, which is vital for the development of the tourism industry. The year 2024 has significantly boosted the city's recognition not only within Russia but also internationally, thanks to the global events hosted in our city," she added. Of course, the basis for us is domestic tourism, our neighbours. With the development of international relations with China, India, Iran, Asian and Latin American countries, we need to set more ambitious goals to attract foreign tourists," Ilsur Metshin, Mayor of Kazan, commented on the statistics.

Number of tourists is growing every year

Kazan's popularity is growing regularly — the number of tourists coming here for the New Year's holidays is increasing every year. For the same period in 2024, the city was visited by 170,000 tourists, in 2023 — 160,000, and in 2022 — 138,000. At the same time, in 2021 the number was more — 140,000.

During the previous New Year's holidays, the most popular spots for tourists were Raifsky Monastery (visited by over 60,000 people), the residence of Kys Babai — 4,500 people (30% more than last year), and the eco-park Dikaya Ferma, as stated by Sergey Ivanov, the chairman of the State Committee for Tourism.

The average hotel occupancy rate did not change year-on-year, amounting to 79%, Alexandra Yushutina, the executive director of the Tatarstan and Kazan Hotels Association, told Realnoe Vremya.

“In general, over the entire New Year holidays, if you look at it, the average load increased by 4 percent in total. At the same time, the first part of the holidays (from December 30 to January 2) was not as good as we expected," Yushutina noted.

Hotel owners reported that during these dates, on average, rooms were booked at 81%. At the same time, in two-star hotels, the load was expected to be 93%, and in five-star hotels — 87%. However, in the end, not all guests checked in, and the occupancy rates were 80% and 86% respectively.

“Perhaps there was a morbidity factor: before the New Year, as we know, there was a wave of acute respiratory viral infections. Perhaps, someone cancelled or rescheduled trips," the hotelier suggested.

On January 3-5, occupancy in 3* category accommodation facilities was 87%, which was by 1% higher than forecast, while in four— and five-star hotels the room stock was occupied by 95% (compared to 91% of pre-bookings).

However, on January 6-8, demand was slightly adjusted. At Christmas, 24% of rooms in the 2* category of hotels in the third capital remained vacant (15% were expected). At the same time, in three-, four— and five-star accommodation facilities, the load exceeded forecast expectations by 8% and 6% (combined 4* and 5*), amounting to 62% and 59%.