Tour operators note surge in Chinese tourism during Golden Week

Host tour operators noted a surge of interest from Chinese tourists in traveling to Russia during the just completed “golden week” – the holidays dedicated to the Mid-Autumn Festival and the Founding Day of the People's Republic of China.

"At least 17-18 tourist buses arrived in Vladivostok, mainly from Dilin province. Plus there were a couple of flights. Experts believe this is a good result, given that the visa-free regime has only just begun to take effect. Lists of tourist groups planning to visit the Primorskiy region arrive every day.”, – said Olga Kudryavtseva, head of the Primorsky branch of the Russian Union of Tourism Industry.

General Director of the Vladivostok tour operator “Katyusha” Dmitry Pavlov said that the company received approximately 2 thousand tourists from China. Most came for two-day tours with a classic program – a sightseeing tour of the city and a trip to Russky Island.

Primorye is gradually returning to pre-pandemic indicators of incoming tourist flows. From January to June, the region received more than 1,1 million tourists, which is 13% more than in the same period last year.

The arrival of Chinese tourists to Transbaikalia is also intensifying. As Irina Ermolina, director of the Trans-Baikal Bureau of International Tourism Sputnik, said, during the “golden week” the tour operator received 17 groups from 5 to 29 people. They came mainly for two- three-day tours with visiting Chita and the Baikal Lake.