MOSCOW, August 28. /TASS/. The tourist flow from China to Russia in the first half of 2024 increased 3.4-fold compared to the same period last year to 480,900, according to the Russian State Statistics Service (Rosstat).

Tourist flow from Russia to China in the first half of the year increased by 3.7 times to 651,100 trips. Thus, the mutual tourist flow of the two countries exceeded 1 mln trips (1.1 mln).

In addition, the flow of tourists from Saudi Arabia to Russia in the first half of the year increased 12.2-fold to 17,000 trips, from the United Arab Emirates - 3.6-fold to 20,400, from Cuba - 2.6-fold to 11,000, from Georgia - 2.4-fold to 75,500. The flow of tourists from Mongolia (+42.3%), Turkey (+34.6%), Germany (+32.1%), India (+30.6%), Iran (+29.2%), and Korea (+22.8%) also increased.

The leading tourist destinations for Russia (excluding CIS countries) in the first half of the year were China, Abkhazia (339,600) and Mongolia (163,900). The top 10 also included South Ossetia, Georgia, Turkey, Germany, Estonia, the United Arab Emirates, and Latvia.