Medinsky: incoming tourist flow to Russia increased by 7% in 2016

“In 2016 Russia was visited by 7% of foreign tourists more than in the previous year”, - said the Russian Minister of Culture Vladimir Medinsky at the opening of the Intourmarket exhibition. "Incoming tourist flow from abroad to Russia increased by 7% last year. Unexpectedly, Iran became the absolute leader - 72%, of growth of tourist flow to Russia. China, Korea and India showed an increase of 20%. It's nice to see, that we have a noticeable growth from such countries as Spain - by 12%, Italy and France - by 5%", - stressed the Minister. V. Medinsky reminded, that in 2016 the domestic tourist flow has grown by 10%. “Apart St. Petersburg and Moscow, Tatarstan, Krasnodar and Altai regions have the leading positions too", - he added. According to him, the out coming segment also shows the growth. "Despite on the economic problems and the growth of the exchange rate, the number of Russian tourists has increased on several destinations: Cyprus - plus 40%, China - plus 30%, Greece - 20%, Spain - plus 15%", - said the Minister of Culture. According to the Federal State Statistics Service, China, Germany and the United States are among the leaders of tourists to Russia.