MOSCOW, November 8. /TASS/. The foreign tourist flow to Russia experienced a 29-fold plunge in January-September 2022 compared with the same period in 2019, the Association of Tour Operators of Russia (ATOR) reported, citing figures provided by the Federal Security Service’s border division.
"During the first three quarters of 2022, the inbound flow of tourists to Russia amounted to 147,400 tourist trips by foreign citizens. By comparison, foreigners made 4.3 mln visits to Russia for tourism purposes from January to September 2019, and almost 176,000 visits during the three-quarters of the pandemic year of 2021 with its tightest restrictions," the report said.
During the first nine months of 2022, Germany ranked first as far as tourist flow to Russia is concerned with 18,300 visits, followed by Turkey (15,800 visits), Iran (12,000), Cuba (10,100), Kazakhstan (8,500), Uzbekistan (6,600), India (5,300), the US (4,600), Armenia (4,400) and Israel (3,700), the association said.
Some 65,900 foreigners arrived in Russia for tourist purposes in Q3 2022, which is almost half that of July-September 2021, and 35 times lower than in Q3 2019, ATOR stressed. There have been almost no organized tourist groups from other countries to Russia this year, travel agencies said, adding that foreigners have mainly come to Russia not for tourist purposes.