CHIANG MAI /Thailand/, January 24. /TASS/. Head of Russia’s Federal Agency for Tourism (Rostourism) Oleg Safonov and Thai Minister of Tourism and Sports Weerasak Kowsurat have signed a 2020 program for tourism cooperation on the sidelines of the ASEAN Tourist Forum in Thailand’s Chiang Mai.

The program is aimed at mutually increasing tourist traffic. "In order to achieve this goal, we will launch a campaign dubbed Thailand’s Amazing Year of Tourism in Russia." "We will also exchange promotional materials and arrange introductory visits," he added.

Besides, the parties agreed to cooperate in strengthening the safety of tourists. "Security issues are particularly important for us because a large number of Russians travel to Thailand and unfortunately, accidents happen. Our goal is to make everything possible in order to protect Russian tourists as much as possible," Safonov pointed out.

Thailand’s minister of tourism and sports, in turn, said that "we are very grateful to Russia as many tourists have been regarding our country as their favorite destination for many years."

According to Thai authorities, more than 1.3 mln Russians visited the country in 2017. Rostourism says that in the first nine months of 2017, the number of Thai tourists visiting Russia grew by 56% to 33,000.