The flow of tourists from China to Russia has increased sevenfold.

From January to September 2024 , the number of foreign citizen trips to Russia, taking into account all purposes of visit, increased by 11% compared to the same period last year, according to updated FSB statistics on foreign nationals entering Russia. During these nine months, citizens of other countries crossed the Russian border 13 million times, compared to 11.7 million such trips in the same period last year.

FSB Border Service statistics track border crossings by foreign and Russian citizens based on the purpose of their visit: business, work, tourism, private travel, study, permanent residence, as well as travel by vehicle maintenance personnel and military personnel. According to the methodology, if the same foreign citizen entered the country multiple times during the reporting period, they are counted as many times as they crossed the border in one direction (i.e., it is more accurate to refer to the number of trips, not the number of individuals).

From January to September of this year, foreigners most frequently entered Russia from neighboring countries. Uzbekistan was the clear leader: residents of this country crossed the Russian border 2.65 million times, which is 8% more than last year (2.45 million). In addition, the top three in terms of entry traditionally included citizens of Kazakhstan, with 2.63 million trips (up 8% year-on-year), and Tajikistan, with 1.4 million (down 17% year-on-year). Among non-CIS countries, China entered the top ten countries whose citizens most frequently visited Russia during the reporting period: the number of trips from there increased 2.5-fold, to 1.3 million (compared to 531,700 trips a year ago). The number of visits to Russia by citizens of the DPRK also increased significantly, tenfold, from 735 a year ago to 7,700.

According to statistics, foreign tourists made 1.2 million trips to Russia for tourism purposes in the first nine months of this year. This is three times more than in the same period in 2023, when foreign tourists made 429,100 trips to Russia.

Most tourists came from China: from January to September, the border service recorded 731,800 trips. This is almost seven times more than in the same period last year (105,800 visits).

But although the flow from China is recovering, it still falls far short of the pre-pandemic 2019 levels, when 1.2 million Chinese tourists visited Russia in three quarters. Before the pandemicDuring the COVID-19 pandemic, the largest number of foreign tourists arriving in our country came from China, including more than 80% of those arriving as part of visa-free travel groups.

Visa facilitation (last year's renewal of the visa-free agreement with China and the launch of an e-visa) have contributed to the growth of tourist flow, says Daria Domostroyeva, Intourist's PR director. Currently, guests from China account for 65% of the tour operator's total international tourist flow. China remains the main supplier of traditional organized tourists to Russia, aided in part by the visa-free group travel regime, according to the Association of Tour Operators of Russia. According to the World Without Borders association, nearly 350,000 Chinese citizens arrived on visa-free group travel lists in the three summer months alone. Of these, more than half went to Primorye and the Amur region, about a quarter arrived in Moscow and St. Petersburg , and the rest went to cities in Siberia (primarily Irkutsk, Krasnoyarsk, and Novosibirsk) and the Urals (Yekaterinburg).

According to statistics, the most frequent tourists from other countries came to Russia in January–September 2024 from Germany, with 52,300 trips (up 24% year-on-year), followed by Turkmenistan with 45,500 (double the number), Iran with 45,400 (up 1.8 times), and Turkey with 44,100 (up 31%). Furthermore, the number of tourist trips from the UAE doubled, reaching 43,200 compared to 20,500 last year. Inbound tourist flow to Russia from India also nearly doubled, reaching 17,700 (up 10,000 the year before). Saudi Arabia demonstrated the greatest growth: the number of tourist trips from this country to Russia increased almost 12-fold over the year, reaching 39,100 compared to 3,300 the year before.

The number of trips from Iran has also increased significantly thanks to the introduction of a visa-free regime between the two countries, says Domostroyeva. According to her, Intourist's primary inbound organized tourist flow comes from countries with either a simplified visa regime, such as China, or visa-free travel, such as the UAE and Iran. The ongoing discussions regarding the introduction of a visa-free regime for tourist groups between Russia and India could also significantly increase inbound tourist flow from that country to Russia, Domostroyeva adds.

The expert attributed the increase in tourist trips from Saudi Arabia to Russia's popularity as a tourist destination for Middle Eastern countries. "While previously residents of the Persian Gulf, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, the UAE, and Oman preferred to vacation in Europe, last summer they discovered Russia, where accommodations in good hotels are three times cheaper than in Europe," Domostroyeva added. After 2022, foreign travel to Russia was significantly impacted by the special military operation in Ukraine , but now "the shock has passed" and foreigners realize it's safe to travel, added Dmitry Arutyunov, CEO of Art-Tour. Furthermore, many are attracted by "shopping, which is unusual for them," he added.

The increase in tourism from Germany, Turkmenistan, and Turkey is not related to traditional vacations. Citizens of these countries primarily come to Russia on tourist visas to visit relatives or work, the Association of Tour Operators of Russia previously explained.

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