It seems that the word tourism Halal in Russia is fashionable everywhere, there are many agencies that boast that they offer the options that most respect rules the Muslim religion but in real it is only a marketing strategy to attract tourists from Muslim countries.
What About Russia in this respect ?
We begin with defining Russia in the aspect of religion. Russia, as is well-known, is the largest country in the world speaking about territory, spanning an area from Western Europe to the borders of china through a very large number of ethnicities, cultures, religions, traditions and gastronomy. Mostly Russian citizens are Orthodox Christians.
Religious composition of the population of Russia-2017
| Religion | Number people | Percent | |
| 1 | Orthodoxy | 110.500.000 | 73,62 |
| 2 | Islam | 15.300.000 | 10,19 |
| 3 | Old Believers | 2.000.000 | 1,33 |
| 4 | Protestantism | 1.000.000 | 0,67 |
| 5 | Buddhism | 1.000.000 | 0,67 |
| 6 | Gregorian-Armenian | 900.000 | 0,6 |
| 7 | Catholicism | 500.000 | 0,33 |
| 8 | Paganism | 500.000 | 0,33 |
| 9 | Judaism | 50.000 | 0,03 |
| 10 | Ezidism | 50.000 | 0,03 |
| 11 | Other | 100.000 | 0,07 |
| 12 | Without religion | 18.200.000 | 12,13 |
* Data of the ecclesiastical authorities of the Russian Federation
There is a big difference between the statistics circulating on the net about the percentages and spread by the different authorities but in 2018 there are some versions that in Russia live about 18 million Muslims from the various branches of Islam, more than half are immigrants from the republics of the east.
So given this number of Muslim habitants; is evident that there are places where you can eat Halal.
Where are Halal restaurants in Russia ?
Especially in Moscow and St. Petersburg!!
It is not all that simple despite the number of Muslim inhabitants, the majority of the working population live on the outskirts of the cities, in these areas there are shops and restaurants that offer all kinds of benefits adapted to the resident, but in the tourist areas (the majority 99%) are prepared for widespread Christian tourism or regardless of religion.
From there comes the difficult mission to locate restaurants with Halal food.
If you are going to visit the city of Kazan, for example, there is no problem since most of the inhabitants are Muslims and almost all the locals are focused on offering halal food.
But what happens in Moscow and St. Petersburg?
In general, it is difficult for a visitor to find suitable places that offer food that respects the Halal guidelines, but for a local specialist it is easy to find them.
But some aspects need to be taken into account:
A Christian or other religious guide who is not Muslim usually keeps intact the tour itinerary and schedule and for this they choose the easy way to say yes, it is halal food but they has no idea what it means.
Many restaurants offer such a halal menu but inside alcohol is served and with this, all the emblem of Halal stays at nothing.
Is it reliable to believe agencies that claim halal tourism in Russia?
As I mentioned before, a guide who is not Muslim in general does not understand the exact meaning of that condition, the same applies to agencies as the most significant thing they do is call the restaurant and ask if it is Halal and those who are on the other side of the phone calculating what it means to earn with such type of customers answer yes, but that’s where the finding ends.
So, the criteria of most Halal tourism agencies are definitely very unreliable.
What about Tours in Russia and Tourism Halal ?
In our policy in our agency “Tours in Russia”, being the creator of the project a person of Muslim origin, we control these details so that a visitor stays with a clear conscience and without wasting the time of enjoyment.
We, at Tours in Russia, take very seriously respecting the religious aspects of each visitor. It is a matter of faith and conscience.
Salam alaykom
I Will be in Russia on March 2020. I guess it will be cold in that month. For me and my family is very important to have such possibilities to eat Halal. Is it possible to have the help of your team in this sense ? How we proceed ?
Thanks for advice us.
وعليكم السلام،
Of course we can help all our visitors to Russia. Just send us all details about your trip (using form contact) and we will help you to organise all, transfer, tours and much more.
On March the temperature is stiil very low but you will enjoy a snow everywhere.
You are welcome.
Mohamed BOUZID