This lecture explains to developers why Altai cannot be developed only for domestic tourism. The Russian tourist already creates a basic load, but the strategic growth lies broader: inbound tourism, medical tourism, health programs, long stays and exports of services.
The main message of the lecture is that a foreign tourist will not appear on his own. He should be attracted not with beautiful words about Altai, but with a finished product: clear logistics, medical program, accommodation, food, escort, language support, security, service, routes and management. If you collect this, Altai can sell not just recreation, but the export of health, nature and restoration.
Colleagues, when we talk about the development of Altai, it is important not to focus only on the domestic tourist.
Domestic tourism is needed. It's already there. It creates basic load, visibility, first sales, seasonal flow, demand for glamping, recreation centers, aparthotels and excursions. Without a Russian tourist, the Altai resort economy will not work.
But if we are talking about a real resort cluster, medical tourism, unit sales, land value increases and long-term capitalization, the domestic market is not enough.
The domestic market is finite. It depends on the income of the population, the cost of the road, the ruble exchange rate, the holiday budget, competition with Sochi, the Caucasus, Baikal, Dagestan, Karelia, Kaliningrad, Crimea and foreign destinations. The Russian tourist is important, but he is not endless.
The foreign tourist gives a different scale of the task.
He buys not only accommodation; he buys transfers, medicine, food, escorts, excursions, translation, service, long stays, impressions, security, gifts, repeat programs and sometimes investment property.
So it's not just a overnight stay, it's an export service.
It's a fundamentally different economy.
The interesting thing about services exports is that money comes from outside the region, and for the territory it's more than just a redistribution of domestic demand, and when a foreign tourist pays for treatment, rehabilitation, accommodation and routes in Altai, the region is not actually exporting raw materials, materials or goods, but the environment, health, nature and service.
For Altai, this can be a strategic direction.
Russia has already begun to restore inbound tourism, and according to the Ministry of Economic Development, the number of foreign tourist trips to Russia has increased from 3.9 million in 2023 to 5.6 million in 2025. This does not mean that foreigners will go to Altai en masse.
In April 2026, the Ministry of Economic Development also reported that in 2025 the number of incoming tourist trips increased by 13% to about 5.8 million foreign tourists, the difference in estimates is due to preliminary data and calculation methods, but the general trend is clear: the inbound flow is recovering.
The global market is much larger, with some 1.52 billion international tourist arrivals recorded in 2025, according to the World Tourism Organization – almost 60 million more than in 2024 – meaning that the global tourism market has not only recovered, it has again become a giant field of competition between countries and regions.
And the important thing is that there is a foreign tourist, there is a global demand, but Altai should be a product that he understands.
Beautiful nature is not enough.
It's a nasty but honest thought. Altai is unique to us. For a foreign tourist who chooses between Japan, China, Turkey, the UAE, Thailand, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, the Caucasus, Baikal and Europe, the word "Altai" may not be enough.
He doesn't have to know where it is, he doesn't have to know why he should go there, he doesn't have to understand Russian sanatorium traditions, he doesn't have to trust unfamiliar medicine without packaging, language and service.
So he should be led by the hand.
For a foreign tourist, the product has to answer simple questions: How do you get there? Who will meet? Where do you live? Who speaks his language? What is his medical program? What is his medical documentation? What is his safety? What is included in the price? How many days does the family need? What are the routes? What is the food level? Can I pay for it? Who is responsible for the result and household issues?
If there are no answers, the foreign tourist does not buy.
So export Altai doesn't start with advertising abroad; it starts with product packaging.
Altai should not be proposed as "the nature of Russia." It is too general. It should be proposed as specific programs.
For example: a 14-day mountain recovery program, accommodation in an apart-unit or glamping home, medical support, nutritional care, diagnostics, bathing and restorative procedures, walking routes, excursions, interpreter, transfer, family support, possibility of extension of stay.
That's a product.
Such a product can be sold not only to a tourist, but also to a tour operator, a medical intermediary, a corporate client, a family office, a health club, a community of remote workers, a buyer of investment real estate.
For the developer, this changes the meaning of construction.
If we build ordinary houses, we depend on the average tourist, and if we build accommodation around a medical and export product, we work with a wider audience.
China is one of the world’s largest sources of international tourism, and has already become a key destination for Russia, with Russian officials noting in early 2026 that about a third of foreign tourists to Russia were Chinese tourists in 2025.
For Altai, China is interesting not only in terms of the number of tourists, but also in terms of proximity, cultural interest in natural areas, demand for recreation, family trips, photogenic routes, soft eco-tourism and new experiences, but the Chinese tourist will not go to Altai automatically, but he needs to be served at a level that he understands: language, payments, food, navigation, security, program, digital promotion, partners and logistics.
The Middle East is another possible market, where there is a viable demand for cool climates, nature, privacy, family accommodation, health and rehabilitation programs, but for such an audience, standards of service, privacy, food, transfers, accommodation and trust are important.
Southeast Asia is a third market, and Altai may be interesting as a rare mountainous, cool, natural and health-improving area, but it needs to be developed through partners, clear programs and digital packaging.
The bottom line is that we need to segment foreign flow, you can't say, "We're waiting for foreigners," you need to understand who we're waiting for, why they're going, what they're going to buy, and how we're going to serve them.
For the developer, this is directly related to the architecture and format of the development.
If we're looking at just the internal stream of the weekend, one type of accommodation is enough, and if we're looking at medical and foreign tourism, we need other solutions: longer stays, quiet, privacy, family units, aparthotels, service atriums, medical offices, translation areas, food, routes of varying complexity, recovery rooms, year-round operation.
The foreign tourist is particularly sensitive to management, he won't be the one to handle the domestic problems on the spot, he needs an operator, he needs a host, he needs confidence that everything is pre-assembled.
So the management company in the export model is not a secondary structure, it's the face of the project.
She is responsible for booking, service, translation, transfers, medical navigation, food, operation, standards, complaints, resales and work with partners.
If the management company is weak, foreign tourism will collapse; if it is strong, it can become a serious source of growth.
It's critical for the unit owner, and the unit's object gets downloaded not just from the random domestic tourist, but also from programs that are sold centrally: medical appointments, family programs, corporate recovery, long-term packages, overseas groups, individual clients.
This increases income sustainability.
This is the reason why Altai resorts can be more interesting than city apartments, where the city apartment is rented out mainly to a local tenant, and when the system is right, the resort unit can serve domestic tourism, medical tourism, family vacations, corporate programs, and foreign flow.
The audience is wider. There are more scripts. The price is not just a square meter, but also a strength of the territory.
Exports of services also enhance the status of the project, where a resort cluster accepts not only Russian guests but also foreigners, it changes the perception of unit buyers, which looks not like a local base, but as part of an internationally oriented resort, which increases trust and liquidity.
But you can't create an illusion. The international market is tough.
Spain received 96.8 million foreign tourists in 2025, and foreign tourist revenues reached 134.7 billion euros, a measure of the scale of a professional tourism economy, where the country has spent decades building infrastructure, services, logistics, brand and standards, and Altai cannot compete immediately with such volumes, but it can occupy a niche if it offers a unique product: nature plus health plus long-term recovery.
So we don't have to chase mass, and the first stage is not about mass foreign flow, but about quality foreign customers.
It could be someone who's ready to come for 10 or 21 days, willing to pay for the restoration, wanting nature, peace and security, interested in a Russian sanatorium school, can come with his family, can repeat the program, can buy a unit or recommend a project to his surroundings.
For such an audience, it is necessary to build not a cheap mass object, but a clear, calm, high-quality cluster.
In this sense, medical tourism becomes the key to exporting services. The average foreign tourist compares Altai to a lot of beautiful places. The medical tourist compares not only nature, but also the program, the result, the doctor, the regime, the food, the cost and the duration of the stay.
Altai can be competitive in the nexus of nature and restoration.
Mountains, rivers, forests, silence and rhythmic change reinforce the medical program, but they don't replace it. You need a professional core: doctors, diagnostics, nutrition, procedures, safety, licenses, escorts.
For a developer, this means building around the core, not around an empty idea.
Partners who build aparthotels and glampings near a medical center have a better chance of international uploading, and they're not looking for a foreign tourist themselves, they're part of a system where a tourist comes to the program and needs a stay.
This increases the value of the partnership model.
Large land masses become especially important in this logic: an export resort cannot be assembled on a small random plot, you need territory: accommodation of different classes, a medical core, walking areas, private areas, service, logistics, parking, personnel, routes, stock for expansion.
That's why renting large amounts of land can be beneficial to developers, who enter the project in stages, don't buy everything, fix the price of the ransom, build first, get the flow, increase the value of the neighboring land, then develop or sell the next plots in the new market logic.
Foreign tourism in this model works as a capitalization enhancer.
If a territory becomes known not only in the region, but also outside Russia, the price of objects and land around it goes differently: you get brand, you get trust, you get international content, you get partnerships, you get a different audience of buyers.
It's a long way to go, but it gives a different scale.
Domestic tourism creates a base. Foreign tourism creates an export premium.
It's important for Altai to take this moment, and if we build for seasonal demand, we'll have baselines and glamping, and if we build with export logic, we'll have stronger architecture, service, management, medical programs and a product that we can show to the world.
It doesn't mean that everything has to be done at a cost, it means that everything has to be done clearly.
Clear logistics. Clear accommodation. Clear medicine. Clear service. Understandable language. Understandable price. Understandable management.
The foreign tourist does not buy chaos, but predictability.
Altai can give it what is lacking in many mass destinations: silence, space, a clean image of nature, restoration, long stay and a sense of rare territory, but it needs to be translated into product language.
This is particularly important for a developer conference, because a developer needs to understand that he's not just building for today's Russian tourist, he's building a platform that can be gradually brought to the foreign market.
First the internal flow, then the medical programs, then the corporate races, then the foreign groups, then the international partners, then the sale of units with the argument of export load, then the increase in the value of neighboring lands.
This path takes time, but it is the path that creates the real capitalization.
A city apartment doesn't have that export logic; it's almost always sold to a local or national market; a resort unit in a strong cluster can become part of an export product, which is a crucial difference.
An apartment in a city depends on how many people are willing and able to live in that city. A unit in a resort cluster depends on how well the territory is able to attract people from different regions and countries.
That's a different scale of demand.
But only if you have professional packaging.
If a project is not ready for a foreign tourist, you can't promise international flow. It's a mistake. You first have to create a product that is not ashamed to sell: accommodation, medicine, service, language, routes, management, security, contracts, visuals, digital showcase.
Only then can we talk about exporting services.
In this sense, Altai is in an early but promising stage today: there is a natural brand, there is an internal flow, there is an interest in health, there is a global demand for health and medical tourism, there is a growth in inbound tourism to Russia, but there are not enough systemic resort clusters that combine all this into one product.
That is what the developers should be offering.
Not just building apartments, not just glamping, not just selling lots, but entering into export-oriented resort areas.
The territories where the Russian tourist gives a base, the medical tourist gives a length of stay, the foreign tourist gives an export premium, and the land around increases in value as the project develops.
That's the power of the model.
Final thesis of the lecture
Foreign tourists for Altai is not just an additional flow, it is an opportunity to turn nature, health, sanatorium programs, accommodation and service into the export of services.
But the foreign tourist will not show up on his own, and he needs to be attracted by the finished product: logistics, language, medicine, accommodation, food, routes, security, management and a clear program of stay.
If this is done, Altai resort units and glampings will receive a wider audience, stronger load and higher investment liquidity.
Short option for performing on stage
The domestic tourist is important for Altai, but the domestic market is finite.
The foreign tourist is different, because he buys more than just accommodation, he buys medicine, rehabilitation, food, transfer, escort, excursions, long stays and services. This is the export of services.
Russia is reviving inbound tourism: preliminary data show that foreign tourist trips have grown from 3.9 million in 2023 to 5.6 million in 2025. The global market is even larger: in 2025, there were about 1.52 billion international tourist arrivals in the world.
But foreigners will not go to Altai just because it's beautiful. You need a product: medical program, accommodation, language, logistics, security and management.
If we do that, Altai doesn't just sell recreation; it sells health, nature and restoration as an export service.