MOSCOW, February 12. /ITAR-TASS/. Massive anti-government protests in Kiev have had a negative impact on the flow of tourists to Ukraine, including those from Russia, the president of the Association of Tourism Business Leaders of Ukraine, Alexandra Novikovsky, told journalists on Wednesday at a videoconference devoted to the development of tourism in the countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States.

“The current situation has a negative impact on Ukraine’s tourism,” Novikovsky said. “Despite the fact that most resort zones are far from the places of protests, the hotbed of confrontation negatively affects those who earlier had plans for visiting Ukraine.”

“Tourists prefer to wait until the situation calms down,” he said. “We hope this will happen quite soon, and people will continue travelling to our country.”

Earlier, the head of the Russian Federal Agency for Tourism (Rostourism), Alexander Radkov, said the protests in Kiev had not influenced the Crimean itinerary, very popular with Russian visitors.

“Russia’s Foreign Ministry has imposed no restrictions on travelling to Ukraine for our tourists yet,” he said. “We will wait and see how the situation in that country is going to develop.”

Radkov added that “even if one leaves the situation in Ukraine aside, it is true that in any case when a country is hit by protests, this can seriously damage its image as a tourist attraction, but we do hope this is not the case”.

“Our tourists still travel and will continue travelling to Crimea,” he said. “Another aspect is worth mentioning. We should settle the issue of insurance. Far from all Russians arriving in the Crimea usually take the trouble of buy an insurance policy”.