Flow of Ukrainian tourists to Crimea grows by 2 times in 2016 — minister

The flow of Ukrainian tourists to Crimea has increased by two times since the start of 2016 to 1.7 million people, Crimea’s minister of resorts and tourism Sergey Strelbitsky told reporters on Friday. "It is very good that the flow of tourists from Ukraine has increased by two times compared to last year. As of August 1, over 1.7 million Ukrainian tourists visited. This serves as evidence that barriers artificially set between Ukraine and Russia, are disappearing. This brings our peoples closer. People that come here and see for themselves the colossal changes over the last two years, see Crimea’s prospects," Strelbitsky said. The minister said that over three million tourists have visited Crimea since the start of 2016, which is by 30% more than last year’s indicators.