The capital that rebuilt its own market: a record 26.5 million visitors in 2025, a 73-million-passenger airport system, a metro carrying 8 million a day — and a luxury hotel tier now run entirely under domestic flags.
Moscow’s hotel market is the world’s largest experiment in domestic rebranding: the former Marriott, Hilton and Ritz-Carlton flagships now trade as Safmar Grand, Safmar Aurora Lux, Safmar Palace and The Carlton — service intact, flags Russian. Four Seasons, Lotte, Ararat Park Hyatt and the St. Regis name on Nikolskaya keep the pre-2022 luxury spine operating.
The engine is domestic scale: 23.7 million Russian visitors in 2025 (58% of them returning guests), foreign arrivals up to 2.8 million led by China, India and the Gulf — and a tourism economy worth ₽1.8 trillion with a 2030 target of 52 million visitors.
The Moscow dossier is live — tracker plus four urban reads: the airport node, the rail node, the passport table and the money flow.
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