Foreign tourist arrivals in Moscow up 10% YoY in H1 2025

MOSCOW. Oct 3 (Interfax) - Some 500,000 foreign tourists visited Moscow in H1 2025, up 10% YoY, the Moscow Tourism Committee's press service said on Friday.

"Number of tourists that came to Moscow from non-CIS countries in the first six months of 2025 increased 10% compared with the same period of last year and totaled half a million. China ranked first by the number of guests, India surpassed Turkey and climbed to the second position, and Vietnam and Saudi Arabia joined the top five," the press service said.

Tourists from Iran, the United Arab Emirates and Cuba also visited Moscow.

"There has been a steep increase [in the arrivals] from certain states both compared to last year and to 2019, when foreign tourism reached its peak. For instance, 1.3 times more visitors [up 30%] came to the capital from Saudi Arabia than in the respective period of 2024. Tourist arrivals grew almost ten times since 2019," it said.

The number of Indian tourists increased by 40% and regained 96% of the 2019 levels, the press service said. Tourist arrivals from Vietnam was up by 20% over the past six months to 62% of the former levels.

The number of foreign tourists checking into Moscow hotels grew 14% year-on-year in the first seven months of this year, the press service said, citing the Federal Statistics Service. Ninety-four percent of rooms in quality hotels booked by foreign tourists in summer were occupied by tourists from non-CIS states, 55% of them from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, India and Oman.