Inbound tourism triples in Russia in Q1 2024

MOSCOW. May 14 (Interfax) - Foreign tourist arrivals in Russia tripled year-on-year in the first quarter of 2024, and half of those tourists came from China, the Association of Tour Operators of Russia (ATOR) said, citing statistics from the Border Service of the Federal Security Service (FSB).

"Almost 218,800 foreign citizens who declared tourism as the purpose of their visit came to Russia in the first quarter of 2024. The number stood at 67,700 in the corresponding period of 2023, which is three times less. There were 470,000 foreign tourist arrivals in the pre-pandemic [period of] January-March 2019, which is twice as many as in the same period this year," ATOR said.

Nearly half (99,000) of tourists came from China, it said.

"Most of the Chinese citizens who visited Russia in the first half of last year were business tourists. The number of Chinese tourists on sightseeing trips to Russia grew at the end of last year and in the first quarter of 2024," ATOR said.

Turkmenistan ranked second in terms of tourist arrivals in the first quarter of 2024 (15,900), followed by Turkey (12,500), Germany (8,400), and the United Arab Emirates (7,300).