Over 420,000 foreigners visited Yekaterinburg in January-September 2010, which was actually 27,000 more than in the year 2009. It has been estimated that 539,000 foreign citizens will have visited the city by the end of the year 2010, says Ilona Starodubtseva, Deputy Mayor of Yekaterinburg Viktor Konteev’s press secretary.

As a matter of fact, 48% of foreigners arrive in Yekaterinburg to get hired, 31% come on private visits, 19% have business to do here, 2.6% come as tourists, and 2% intend to study here.

Experts report Yekaterinburg has developed a great tourism-hosting and international business communications potential over the last five years; this happened within the framework of the city’s strategy on developing the local commodity and services markets. For one, about 270 representations of foreign companies, twenty consulates, and three business missions are operating in Yekaterinburg at the moment.

Looking back at the year 2009, 401,000 citizens of other states visited Yekaterinburg for different reasons; this included 110 business trips and 55 official visits.