Russia Seriously Developing Halal Tourism to Attract Muslim Travellers

The Moscow City Government is championing halal and Muslim-friendly tourism to boost the number of Muslim visitors, particularly those from Indonesia. The Moscow Tourism Committee, known as Mostourism, stated that Russia is seriously developing this tourism segment to provide the best possible services.

“Moscow continues to develop a Muslim-friendly environment, including for Indonesian tourists, and we are working hard to increase the number of restaurants and hotels that can properly serve Muslim travellers,” said Maria Pasuginova, Head of the Department for Asia, CIS, and Latin America at Mostourism, during a press conference in Jakarta on Tuesday (1/9/2026).

She highlighted the positive growth momentum of Indonesian tourists to Moscow, which reached 3,600 people in the first half of 2026, a 12 per cent increase from the same period in 2025. The total number of Indonesian tourists in Moscow in 2025 stood at 7,500.

Despite this growth, Pasuginova acknowledged that the figures are still far from the levels seen before the COVID-19 pandemic, when Indonesian visitor numbers to Moscow reached 16,000 in 2019.

Pasuginova expressed hope that the Moscow City Tourism Committee’s efforts to promote halal tourism, including through a