"In the first half of 2023, 187,800 foreigners visited Russia for tourist purposes, according to the data from the Russian FSB's Border Service. The figure has jumped by over 100,000 people year-on-year (81,500 tourists), and the annual increase is estimated at 130%. The tourist flow surge occurred in the second quarter of 2023, from April to June, when 120,100 foreign tourists or two-thirds from a total of 187,800 visited Russia," the statement read.
The statement said that the tourist flows from China, Turkiye, Germany, Turkmenistan and Iran topped the list of foreign arrivals to Russia, adding that Kazakhstan, Poland, Kyrgyzstan, India and the United Arab Emirates were also included in the top-10.
It added that the total number of foreign arrivals, including for work or study purposes, amounted to 7.2 million visits in the first half of 2023, rising by 1.6 million year-on-year, but falling by 7.9 million compared to the first half of 2019.