Tensions between the U.S. and the Soviet Union were high in 1980. Americans boycotted the Olympics in Moscow and air travel between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R was limited to two Aeroflot flights a week. Still, the Soviet Union was not deterred from encouraging American visitors.
Intourist, the official Soviet travel company, published glossy brochures promising a “close-up look at great economic achievements and exciting new projects” of the U.S.S.R. Traveling to the Soviet Union was not straightforward. Intourist, which was founded in 1929, was the only way to make travel arrangements.
The Intourist travel brochures promised everything from winter skiing in the “exotic resorts of the Northern Caucasus” to rest cures and medical treatment at Soviet “spa-resorts” along the Black Sea. American visitors needed to be kept under close watch, so Intourist provided guides, drivers and interpreters. Travelers were limited to specific hotels, or, for the more adventurous, campsites.
Learn more about visiting the Soviet Union with Intourist in the Tom Pugh papers at UW’s American Heritage Center.