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Russian tourism industry to lose about $47 mln in two months due to coronavirus

In 2019, 1.5 mln Chinese tourists visited Russia

© Sergei Savostianov/TASS

MOSCOW, February 19. /TASS/. The Russian tourism industry may lose nearly 3 bln roubles (approximately $47 mln) in February and March due to the outbreak of novel coronavirus and the corresponding measures taken to combat the spread of the disease, the Association of Tour Operators of Russia (ATOR) informed.

On January 28, the Chinese government suspended travel of tourists abroad in order to prevent the spread of coronavirus. On February 20, Russia will ban entry of Chinese nationals coming to the country with educational, private or tourism purposes.

Read also

Russia’s government suspends visa-free tourist travel to China

"The average price of a tour (without plane tickets) for one Chinese tourist is about $500. In February alone, Russian tour operators lost at least 1.4 bln roubles (about $22 mln). It is clear that in March, Chinese tourists will not come to Russia either: the bookings have been cancelled. The revenue from receiving Chinese tourists in March will also come up to at least 1.4 bln roubles," ATOR informed. In total, the Russian tourism industry will lose at least 2.8 bln (about $44 mln) roubles, the association noted.

If Chinese tourists fail to return to Russia during the summer season, Russian tourism industry may lose about 31.2 bln roubles (about $490 mln) in May-September, ATOR stated.

According to the association, in 2019, 1.5 mln Chinese tourists visited Russia, including 1.2 mln people who entered Russia without a visa. About 75% of tourist flow from China takes place in May-September.

"Members of the tourism industry think that the flow of Chinese tourists will not be recovered until at least late April-early May. That is, it is likely that there will not be any Chinese tourists in Russia in April, and tour operators will have to fill the void with other foreign tourists," ATOR noted.

On December 31, Chinese authorities informed the World Health Organization (WHO) about an outbreak of an unknown pneumonia in the city of Wuhan - a large trade and industrial center in central China populated by 11 million people. The source of the outbreak is the COVID-19 coronavirus. Cases of coronavirus have been documented in at least 25 countries, including Russia. WHO declared the coronavirus outbreak in China a global health emergency.

Currently, the total number of people infected with coronavirus exceeds 74,100 in China with over 2,000 reported deaths. Meanwhile, approximately 14,300 people are said to have recovered from it.

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