ST. PETERSBURG, Nov. 3 (Xinhua) -- Tourists from China topped the number of foreign visitor trips to Russia in the first nine months of this year, Russian media RBC reported on Friday.
In the nine-month period, the Russian Federal Security Service's border service registered 429,100 foreign tourist trips to the country, and 105,800 of them were made by Chinese citizens, the report said.
During the same period of 2022, only 563 Chinese tourists came to Russia, which was due to the COVID-19 anti-pandemic measures, according to the report.
Russia's launch of e-visa service and the resumption of visa-free regime for tourist groups between the two countries also contributed to the growth of tourist traffic to Russia from China, experts say.
Before the pandemic, China was Russia's largest source of tourists, and Chinese tourists led in tourism spending among foreigners visiting Russia, the report said.
