HAVANA, May 19. /TASS/. The tourist flow from Russia to Cuba may rise to 500,000 people per year, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko said on Friday.

Russian Deputy PM participated in the meeting devoted to tourism attended by the republic’s Prime Minister Manuel Marrero and Tourism Minister Juan Carlos Garcia Granda.

"Historically Russia is one of the main four countries, whose citizens [most actively] visit Cuba. At the peak of the pandemic Russia was the first in terms of the number of tourists coming. The highest number registered is 178,000 tourists per year. We wanted to pass the mark of 200,000 tourists and to reach half a million tourists per year in the future," Tourism Minister Juan Carlos Garcia Granda said.

"I support the minister’s strive to bring the tourist flow from Russia to 500,000 [people] per year, thus making sure Russia tops the list, surpassing the most developed direction from Canada. I am confident that we will manage to do it through the cooperative efforts," Chernyshenko noted, adding that Russia will resume regular flights to Cuba to be performed by Rossiya airline.