MOSCOW, November 22. /TASS/. The tourist flow from Russia to Turkey is expected to exceed 5 mln trips by the end of this year, the Association of Tour Operators of Russia (ATOR) said in a statement on Tuesday.

"With 185,000 Russians visiting Istanbul in October alone, the target of 5 mln Russian tourists to Turkey in 2022 will undoubtedly be surpassed," the statement said.

According to Turkey’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Russia ranked first in terms of tourist flow to Turkey in October. Russians visited the country 767,800 times in the reporting period, which is 15.2% less than in October 2021, and 3% less than in October 2019, the ATOR said.

In the first ten months of 2022, Russia was second only to Germany in terms of tourist traffic to Turkey with 4.6 mln arrivals, up by 6.2% year-on-year, and down 30.8% compared with the same period in 2019. Russians most often visited Antalya during this period (53.6%), with another 22% of trips made to Istanbul, and 6.9% of trips made to Aegean resorts, the Association added.