Belarus sees decline in flow of tourists from Russia

MINSK. Nov 28 (Interfax) - The flow of tourists from Russia to Belarus, according to preliminary estimates, has dropped 10%-12%, Chairman of the Board of the Republican Union of Tourism Industry Filipp Guly said on Tuesday.

"The room stock is expanding in Russia, which accounted for the bulk of inbound tourist traffic in recent years, by more than 15% in 2023 compared to 2022 thanks to the industry support measures, and new outbound destinations are opening up, such as Thailand, which has hosted two million Russians. This is partly why someone has not reached us," Guly was quoted as saying by the SB. Belarus Today state-run newspaper.

"At the same time, regular flight programs linking the regions of the eastern neighboring country and Minsk are overlapping this in some places," he said.

"It would be great to be able to immediately see the statistics, but there is no immediate data for analysis, we can only estimate locally: based on our subjective estimates, there is a drop in tourist traffic by 10%-12% this year compared to last year," Guly said.