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Some 5,000 Brazil tourists expected in Petersburg for 2018 FIFA World Cup

Committee for tourism expects interest in football can boost Brazilian tourism to Russia’s second biggest city

ST. PETERSBURG, August 22. /TASS/. Up to 5,000 fans from Brazil are expected to visit Russia’s St. Petersburg when it will be among the host cities for 2018 FIFA World Cup. This was the figure voiced at a meeting of the chairman of the Petersburg committee for tourism, Andrei Mushkarev, with leading tour operators and journalists from Brazil.

Committee for tourism sources have told TASS that the Brazil delegation gave high marks to St. Petersburg’s transport infrastructure as well as to a warm atmosphere of the city and friendliness of the citizens.

"Brazil bloggers and tour operators also said they appreciated very much Russian cuisine, especially borshch (beetroot soup), pelmeni (meat dumplings), golybtsy (stuffed cabbage rolls) and Russian vodka," the committee’s press service said.

Brazil is not yet on the list of major foreign tourist groups to St. Petersburg, and the committee expects interest in football can boost Brazilian tourism to Russia’s second biggest city.

The committee said organized tourism from Latin America was a trend of this season; the city has for the first time seen tourists from Chile, Peru and Venezuela.

This tendency towards growing numbers of South American tourists has been seen in the city for a second year. The exact data on their numbers will be clear at the end of the season, the committee said.

Last year, St. Petersburg was actively advancing its tourism products on the market of Latin America, which has resulted in a sizable growth of tourist numbers from Argentina and Mexico this year, the committee said.