MOSCOW, December 27. /TASS/. The flow of foreign tourists to Russia by the end of 2024 will soar by 95% compared to 2023 and will amount to approximately 2.5 million trips, the Association of Tour Operators of Russia (ATOR) announced.
"In 2024, the total number of foreigners visiting Russia for tourism and business purposes may grow to an estimated 2.5 million, which is 95% more than the previous year," the report stated.
In particular, the number of tourist trips to Russia may reach 1.8 million, the number of business trips may total roughly 0.7 million. In 2023, these figures were 670,000 and 605,000 visits, respectively.
Experts attribute the increase to such factors as the introduction of an e-visa regime, fine-tuning mechanisms of visa-free group travel from China and Iran, as well as the broadening of air traffic with key markets.
According to a preliminary estimate by the analytical service of ATOR, in 2024, the volume of organized tourist traffic to Russia is projected to reach at least 720,000 trips, or about 30% of the total volume of entries for tourism and business purposes.
Tourists from China accounted for about 83% of the tourist traffic (about 600,000). The number of travelers from Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Southeast Asian countries entering Russia on individual and group tours has increased significantly.
The main countries from which organized tourists entered the European part of Russia in 2024 were China (60%), the UAE (15%), the Middle East (Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman) (10%), Southeast Asia (Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam) (6%), India (5%), Iran (2%) and other countries (Turkey, Belarus, Bulgaria, Germany, Spain, Armenia, Uzbekistan) (2%).
Tour operators note that the tourist flow from the UAE and other Arab countries of the Persian Gulf has been recovering most dynamically. The most popular destinations in Russia for organized foreign tourists in 2024 were Moscow (50% of the tourist flow), St. Petersburg (25%), the Murmansk region (10%), the Moscow region (5%), Sochi (3%), Tatarstan, the Urals and other regions (7% in total).
ATOR Executive Director Maya Lomidze believes that stimulating factors for inbound tourism could be the resolution of the problem of cashless payments for foreigners in Russia, the expansion of the list of countries for obtaining an e-visa and direct flights to a number of Arab countries, and the optimization of customs inspection and passport control procedures.