72-Hour Visa-Free Regime Brings More Visitors to St. Petersburg.

According to St. Petersburg Tourism Development Committee, 500 000 cruise passengers visited St. Petersburg in 2014. This is largely due to recent introduction of 72-hour visa-free regime. Sea cruise passengers are allowed to stay in the country without visa for 72 hours as long as they go on city tours together with a cruise group or with a tour company which is authorized by the port to cater for cruise passengers. This is a good solution for those who don’t want to waste time on Russian visa formalities. 

 

72-free regime is also valid for ferry passengers. St. Petersburg Tourism Development Committee is working on a new tourist route which they call ‘a new Window on the West’. The idea is to meet tourists at Helsinki airport and deliver them to the ferry going to St. Petersburg. The ferry arrives in St. Petersburg in the morning and passengers check into local hotel. Then, 3 days later, they take an evening ferry and return to Helsinki. Once introduced, this will be a very easy and comfortable way to see St. Petersburg.

 

To make border crossing formalities easier, on December 17th extra passport control cabins were opened in the Sea Façade terminal.