Number of Chinese tourists in Russia may approach pre-pandemic levels by end of 2024

Over the year, more than half a million tourists have taken part in visa-free regime trips between Russia and China, the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation reported.

"Today, we see a dynamic increase in the number of tourists interested in visa-free tourist trips. According to our data, almost 580 thousand Russian and Chinese tourists have used visa-free tours since August 1, 2023",

Deputy Minister of Economic Development of the Russian Federation, Dmitry Vakhrukov said.

About 240 thousand people out of the 580 thousand tourists came from China to Russia and more than 340 thousand travelers are Russians who visited the PRC.

Last year, China took first place among countries in terms of tourist flow to the Russian Federation. The tourist flow amounted to about 1 million people. According to the positive forecasts of the ministry, the number of Chinese tourists visiting Russian cities may approach pre-pandemic figures (they amounted to 2 million people). In the worst case, an increase of about 30–40% is still expected.