20% Drop in Visitors to Russia

Foreign tourist arrivals in Russia plummeted to just 2.99 million in the first half of the year—a staggering 20% drop compared to the same period last year. This marks the weakest performance since 2021, effectively erasing hopes of a swift post-pandemic recovery for the sector.  Industry experts point to a perfect storm of external factors: the escalating military conflict in the Middle East has severely disrupted air travel, while ongoing operational instability at Russian airports continues to deter international visitors. The high season for inbound tourism, which typically runs from May through September, has so far failed to deliver the expected surge.  

Unsurprisingly, China remains the dominant source of arrivals, accounting for a massive 50.8% of all inbound trips according to FSB Border Service data. Saudi Arabia comes in a distant second at 4.6%, followed by Turkmenistan, Turkey, Germany, and the UAE. However, Russian statistics agency Rosstat applies a broader methodology, which includes cross-border movements from neighboring states. Under this calculation, the lion’s share of visits actually originates from Kazakhstan, China, and Uzbekistan.

Despite the active push to boost numbers—including the introduction of e-visas for 64 countries since 2023—the decline persists. The average cost of a tourist trip to Russia currently hovers around 95,000 RUB (~$1,050 USD), with a standard economy-class flight from Europe or Asia averaging 50,000 RUB (~$550 USD). Yet even these figures cannot compensate for structural barriers. The escalation in the Middle East led to mass flight cancellations, effectively cutting off access not only for travelers from the Gulf states but also for those from Southeast Asia.

Photo of Shlisselburg Fortress by Marina Zatsepina, Russian Travel Digest