BANGKOK, February 2. /TASS/. The Russia-Thailand Travel Club, expected to become a platform for tourism cooperation between the two countries, has opened its doors in Bangkok on Friday, a TASS correspondent reports.

The club was set up at the initiative of the Visit Russia National Tourism Office’s Southeast Asian branch. It involves travel agents interested in promoting Russia among Thai travel lovers, as well as air carriers and media outlets. Russia’s Federal Tourism Agency (Rostourism) and the Russian embassy in Thailand supported the initiative.

"As for Europe, the Russian market is the most important for Thailand," the Thai Tourism Ministry's Permanent Secretary, Pongpanu Svetarunda, said addressing the club’s opening ceremony. "Next year, we expect the Russian tourist inflow to increase, and we also believe that the number of Thai tourists travelling to Russia will grow, as people will particularly attend the FIFA World Cup," he added.

Thailand is one of the most popular Southeast Asian tourist destinations among Russians.

According to Thai authorities, more than 1.3 mln Russians visited the country in 2017, which is the largest number in the past four years.

Rostourism, in turn, says that in the first nine months of 2017, the number of Thai tourists visiting Russia grew by 56% to 33,000.

The Thai tourist inflow to Russia may triple to 100,000 in the next three years, head of the Russia National Tourism Office’s Southeast Asian branch Alexander Basov told TASS.