Russia Issues Tourism Etiquette Guide for Its Citizens

Visiting a foreign country typically involves brushing up on the culture’s customs, hand gestures and sometimes language. While most travelers have to do this research on their own, Russian travelers can benefit from a government-issued etiquette guide that helps inform its citizen how to behave when abroad. The guide bases most of its tips and advice on the customs of Russia and how other nations may have different views and behaviors surrounding a number of issues.

For example, one of the tips in the guide involves refraining from harassment of any LGBTQ people or other minority groups, a practice common in Russia. The guide explains that in other countries, it is legal to marry a member of the same sex and gender equality is recognized. At the same time, the United States warns its citizens traveling to Russia that homosexuality isn’t omnipresent and not as tolerated as it is elsewhere.

Released by the Russian Foreign Ministry, the guide also provides country-specific tips about more than 50 nations including (but not limited to) the following: Avoid raising eyebrows in the United Kingdom as this can be a sign of skepticism or doubt; do not give a “thumbs up” in Guinea-Bissau as it is offensive; and avoid drinking too much alcohol in Mongolia as public drunkenness is frowned upon.