Foreign tourists expected to leave 2 billion dollars in Moscow this year

As of the beginning of the current year Moscow has been visited by over 2 million foreign tourists, whereas in the entire past year there were 1.7 million of them. Most of the tourists come from Germany, the USA, France and England, Grigory Antyufeyev, head of the Moscow Tourism Committee, said at a meeting with pressmen on Thursday.

According to the committee's data, every tourist spends an average of 3.6 days in Moscow and about 1,000 dollars. Thus, in the current year foreign tourists will leave in the Russian capital about 2 billion dollars. Part of this money will be used to expand the network of hotels in the city.

According to the head of the Moscow tourist committee, the Russian capital so far has no system of counting up the city's revenue from the tourist business. As for the expenditures, in 2002 the municipal government allocated 200 million roubles (about 6.3 million dollars) for this purpose. To help foreigners better find their way in Moscow, by the end of the current year all the street names in downtown Moscow will be dubbed in Latin letters. In the Moscow underground, which has always attracted the attention of foreign guests, this has already been done.