Tourists from China in 2023 were about 200 thousand people, and a total of about 700 thousand foreigners visited Russia.
Artur Muradyan, vice-president of the Russian Association of Tour Operators for outbound tourism, said that Chinese tourists in 2023 prevailed among the country's visitors - they came about 200,000 people out of 700,000. The Chinese most often visit Moscow, St Petersburg, the Baikal region and the Far East - Khabarovsk Krai, RT reports.
Yuri Barzykin, vice-president of the Russian Union of Travel Industries, noted that the Russian Union of Travel Industries is conducting strategic sessions on different types of tourism on the instructions of the Ministry of Economic Development. Representatives of St. Petersburg proposed to introduce a visa-free regime for China, the proposal will be passed to all interested ministries and agencies.
Muradyan believes that Chinese tourists will become the dominant branch of inbound tourism in the new year. Besides, group tourism is more relevant for the Chinese, so the introduction of a visa-free regime will help to significantly increase flows.
"Another thing is that we would like this measure to be mirrored, so that China cancels visas for Russians," Muradyan added.
While Chinese tourists visit Russia, Russians go to Turkey, and China complains about the lack of Russian-speaking guests.