Tourists make 41.4 million trips across Russia in 6 months - deputy PM Chernyshenko

MOSCOW. Aug 14 (Interfax) - Tourists made 41.4 million trips across Russia in the first six months of 2025, up 7% on the year before, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko said.

"In January-June tourists made 41,400,000 trips around Russia, almost 7% more than in the same period last year. The positive dynamic has continued for the fifth year," Chernyshenko was quoted in a statement by his press service as saying on Thursday.

Since its drop due to the coronavirus pandemic, the number of tourist trips has been steadily rising: 66.5 million in 2021 (up 40% on 2020), 73.1 million in 2022 (up almost 10% on 2021), 83.6 million in 2023 (up 14% on 2022), and 90 million in 2024 (up almost 8% on 2023), the statement said.

There was a record number of such trips in 2024 when it increased by 37% compared with 2021, the official said.

"The biggest number of tourist trips were to Moscow (6 million), Krasnodar Territory (4.4 million) and St. Petersburg (3.3 million). Also in the top are the Moscow region (2.7 million), Tatarstan (1.4 million), Crimea (1.1 million) and the Sverdlovsk region (1 million)," Chernyshenko said.

The biggest increase was demonstrated by regions that actively develop their tourism infrastructure. The fastest growing is Kalmykia (up 81.7%), followed by Adygea (up 79.1%) and Karachay-Cherkessia (up 75.6%). Other high performers include the Tver region (up 58.8%), Jewish Autonomous Region (up 48%) and Ulyanovsk region (up 44.8%).

Alongside the traditional tourist destinations, those underrated are also becoming more popular, Economic Development Minister Maxim Reshetnikov said.

"This goes to show that our efforts to diversify the tourism market have yielded a result. For example, the Siberian Federal District has shown an increase of 14.5%, the Northwest [increased] by 9%, and the Far East, by 7.3%. This proves that tourists are increasingly discovering new itineraries," Reshetnikov was quoted by his press service as saying.

If this growth dynamic continues in the second half-year, the number of tourist trips nationwide could break a new record, the statement said.