MOSCOW, November 7. /TASS/. More than 105,000 tourists from China visited Russia in January-September 2023, representing one-fourth of all tourist visits made by foreigners to the country in the first nine months of the year, the Association of Tour Operators of Russia (ATOR) said, citing figures provided by the border service of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB).

"China became the first country in terms of tourist flow to Russia in the first half of 2023 for the first time since the pandemic. In [the first] nine months of the year, China still held this position. Chinese citizens made 105,800 visits to Russia from January through September 2023, declaring tourism as the purpose of their trip. That said, most visits by Chinese tourists were made during Russia’s tourist season, meaning July, August, September," ATOR said.

Over 429,000 foreigners declared tourism as the purpose of their visits to Russia in January-September 2023. In contrast, Russia welcomed 4.3 mln foreign tourists in the same period in 2019, but just 147,400 tourists in the same period in 2022, the association noted.

Experts cite various factors behind the growth in the number of tourists from China. The first and main factor is the increase in bilateral business activity. Most foreigners have come to Russia this year with business goals, according to travel agencies. Meanwhile, many of them obtained tourist visas. An increase in the number of flights between the countries and Russia’s introduction of e-visas for citizens of 55 countries, as well as the resumption of visa-free travel between Russia and China have also helped push the tourist flow volume up. Experts say the tourist flow from China will keep growing right up to the year-end.

Germany was the second country in terms of tourist flow to Russia in January-September (42,100 visits), following by Turkey (33,700). Russia was also visited for tourism purposes in the reporting period by citizens of Iran (25,600), Turkmenistan (23,600), the United Arab Emirates (UAE) (20,500), Kazakhstan (12,600), India (10,000), Latvia (9,700), and Uzbekistan (9,000). Among the visitors from these countries, travelers fitting the traditional tourist profile were relatively rare, coming only from Turkey, Iran, the UAE and India, according to travel agencies.

The tourist flow from Turkey has almost reached its pre-pandemic level, according to statistics, as Turkish citizens made 39,500 visits to Russia for tourism purposes from January through September 2019. The tourist flow from Iran has almost reached pre-pandemic figures as well (25,800 visits in 9M 2019), the association noted.