The tourist industry and travel agency situation has changed dramatically since 1991. The once powerful Intourist Agency has been split into many independent hotels, travel agencies and travel services. Competition has made the remnants of Intourist much more friendly and efficient.
The variety of services provided by travel agencies has also encreased. Besides providing hotel accommodation and tours they include: visa services; passport registration car-renting services; airline and railroad tickets courier services etc.
Another innovation for Russian travel agencies is Internet travel booking. The Internet has changed the way tour agents operate all over the world, including Russia. In addition to speedy transactions and access to fuller information, online booking enables customers to save up to 30 percent on air tickets because online booking gives them many more travel options than any regular tour agent.