In 2015, Moscow and St. Petersburg took 2,3 times more Chinese tourists

Two of the Russian capitals are the most visited tourist destinations for Chinese tourists. For six months of this year, Moscow and St. Petersburg were visited by 103,000 Chinese travelers as a part of group tours, while the 2014 figure was less than 45 thousand people. In total, in the first half of 2015 Russia was visited by 160,000 tourists from China by visa-free channel, which is two times more than in the same period of the last year.

Intensive growth of inbound tourism in Russia from China began in December 2014, when prices for both tours, and consumer goods fell sharply due to the collapse of the ruble. However, the positive dynamics of the entry is linked not only to this factor. According to the executive director of the Tourist Association The World without Borders Svetlana Pjatihatki: "The growth of Chinese overseas travel is also associated with an increase in income and the average standard of living, and growing interest in foreign culture and way of life, so different from the Chinese mentality. Today, a trip abroad can afford not only residents of large metropolises and administrative centers of the eastern and southern parts of China, but also people from the less developed central and western regions of the country." Thus, according to the National Bureau of Statistics of China, disposable personal income in China over the past 10 years has increased from 10,483 yuan to 28,844 yuan.

According to the forecasts of the Institute of Tourism Studies of China, this year the number of tourists visiting from China will exceed 135 million trips. This is 14% more than in 2014.