Foreign tourist flow to Russia rises by 28% in Q1

MOSCOW, May 12. /TASS/. Tourist flow to Russia from foreign countries increased by 28.1% in the first quarter of 2026 compared with the same period last year, reaching 293,200 visits, the Association of Tour Operators of Russia reported. "In the first quarter of 2026, foreigners made 293,200 tourist visits to Russia — 28.1% more than a year earlier. The main contribution to the growth came from China, Turkmenistan, Saudi Arabia, and India. Even the aviation crisis triggered by the conflict in the Middle East did not prevent the market from finishing the quarter with double-digit growth," the statement said. The top 10 countries whose citizens visited Russia most frequently for tourism purposes were: China (154,200 visits, up 44.4% compared with the first quarter of 2025), Turkmenistan (20,500 visits, up 2.2 times), Turkey (16,800 visits, +28.1%), Saudi Arabia (14,800 visits, +49.7%), India (6,950 visits, +55.9%), Germany (6,900 visits, -6.2%), the UAE (3,900 visits, -43.2%), Belarus (3,800 visits, +31.2%), Kazakhstan (3,600 visits, +1.9%) and Cuba (3,300 visits, -31.1%). As ATOR noted, the composition of the top 10 has changed very little: nine out of the 10 countries remained in the ranking. "The newcomer was Belarus, which rose from 13th to eighth place. It pushed Iran out of the top 10 — Iran ranked eighth in the first quarter of 2025 but fell to 18th place in the first quarter of 2026," the experts explained. China remained the undisputed leader and further strengthened its position. Tourist flow from China resumed growth at the end of last year after Russia introduced a temporary visa-free regime. As for Turkmenistan, most visits to Russia from that country are private or business-related.