Foreign citizens made 8,8 million visits to Russia in the period from January to September 2021, according to statistics for three quarters from the FSB border service of Russia.
Of these, the tourist purposes of the visit were declared 175,8 thousand times. The total inbound flow has decreased by almost three times compared to the same period of the pre-crisis 2019, and the tourist flow has decreased by at least 24 times.
Cuba became the main supplier of tourists to Russia for the first three quarters of 2021. For nine months, Cubans made 44,4 thousand visits, officially declaring the tourist purpose of arrival.
Germany is in the second place. For nine months, the citizens of this country made 25,9 thousand tourist visits to Russia. This is about 3 thousand more than from January to September 2020, but 18 times less than for the same period in 2019.
In the third place is the United Arab Emirates. According to the results of three quarters of this year, the flow of tourists from this region reached the indicators of the same period of the pre-pandemic 2019 - 18 thousand visits. Tour operators note that the citizens of the Emirates chose trips to Moscow and St. Petersburg instead of their usual summer visits to Europe.
Next in the ranking is Turkey. During the indicated period, Turkish citizens made 15 thousand tourist trips to Russia. Two years earlier, this figure was 2,6 times higher.
India has become one of the main providers of organized tourist groups. The FSB border service counted 10,6 thousand visits by citizens of this country. This is 2,5 times more than for the same period in 2020, but six times less than from January to September 2019.
The citizens of Qatar have become noticeably more interested in Russia: this year they made 9 thousand tourist visits to the country, and in 2019 they came only 2,1 thousand times for three quarters.
The tourist TOP-10 is closed by Serbia (5,6 thousand visits), Kazakhstan (5,3 thousand), Armenia (4,7 thousand) and the USA (3,8 thousand).
