Foreigners traveling on ships need no visas for Russia

Russia's top tourism official said he hopes that the decree, which mirrors a current law allowing foreigners a three-day stay in Russia with no visa if they arrive on cruise ships, will help mitigate an expected drop in the number of foreign tourists amid the global financial crisis. St.-Petersburg officials also hope that it will give a boost to the northern capital, which is one of the seven port cities affected in the decree and where tourism keeps a significant amount of residents employed. The decree is set to come into force one week after it is published - on May 20 - a government spokesman told. It regulates the arrival of foreign tourists into ports in St. Petersburg, Kaliningrad, Vladivostok and Sochi, as well as the towns of Vyborg in the Leningrad region, Korsakov in the Sakhalin region and Novorossiisk in the Krasnodar region. The decree does not give foreigners complete freedom of movement during the three-day visa-free period. They are allowed to travel around the country but only according to the itinerary of their respective tour groups and together with their fellow travelers.  

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