The Primorye gambling zone, in the Russian Far East, welcomed 856,500 visitors in 2025, according to local authorities. The figure was up by around 12.2 percent year-on-year, marking a fifth consecutive year of annual growth, the state-backed Primorsky Krai Development Corp said on its official website.
In 2024, approximately 763,200 visitors were recorded at the Primorye gambling zone. The location – which encompasses two casino resorts – also has been referred to as the Primorye Integrated Entertainment Zone (IEZ).
The development corporation said that, among visitors to the Primorye gambling zone in 2025, approximately 6 percent were foreign tourists from Central Asia (50,200 people).
The second-largest group of international visitors came from the wider Asia-Pacific region – including South Korea, Vietnam, China and Japan – at 48,100, a year-on-year increase of approximately 9 percent, according to Primorsky Krai Development.
The release quoted Julia Yakush, head of the investment project department at the development corporation, as noting that domestic tourism to the Primorye gambling zone had been growing, as Russian nationals face “rising costs” and, in the case of “certain segments of the population”, “restrictions” on outbound travel.
There are currently two casino resorts in operation in the Primorye gambling zone, a casino development area located 50 kilometres (31 miles) from Russia’s Pacific port of Vladivostok.
The Tigre de Cristal property (pictured in a file photo) is majority-owned by Summit Ascent Holdings Ltd, controlled by the troubled LET Group Holdings Ltd. Last July, Summit Ascent reported that the property was back to profit as it focused on the Russia domestic mass market.
The Shambala casino resort, operated by an entity called Shambala CJSC, was the second casino to open there. In June last year it was reported that the property was seeing construction of its Phase 2, and was due to reach “full capacity” in 2028.
