Russians Begin to Visit Armenia Less Frequently

Armenia has been included in the list of ten countries that are most frequently visited by Russian tourists. This is reported by RBC, citing statistics from the Russian Federal Security Service's border guard service. In the first six months of 2024, Russians made 4.9 million trips abroad for tourism purposes, 20% more than a year ago (4.1 million trips).

Among the countries to which Russians are most frequently traveling for tourism are Turkey, the UAE, Egypt, Thailand, and China. The list also includes neighboring countries such as Armenia, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, and Georgia. From distant overseas countries, Cuba has appeared in the rankings.

At the same time, Turkey remains the absolute leader in terms of the number of arrivals from Russians, taking into account all travel purposes. Russian arrivals in Turkey increased by 9.4% in the first half of 2024 compared to the previous year, reaching 2.5 million trips.

The flow of Russians to China has tripled (793.4 thousand trips). Thailand (30% increase) and Egypt (+15%) are also on the list of the most visited countries.

Kazakhstan has also emerged as a mass destination for Russians, although the number of trips to that country has decreased by 9% over the past year, down to 1.2 million. Additionally, among neighboring countries, Russians visited Armenia less frequently in the first half of the year, with the number of trips declining by 17% compared to the previous year, reaching 452.8 thousand (down from 545.7 thousand a year earlier). In contrast, Russian citizens are now traveling more frequently to Georgia (522.7 thousand, +31.5%) and Azerbaijan (340 thousand, +26%), reports the publication.

It is noteworthy that in the first half of 2024, Armenia welcomed 947,512 tourists, which is 57,651 less than the figures from the same period in 2023 (1,005,163). Almost half of them, 41% (396 thousand), are visitors from Russia. Other countries contributing to tourism growth include Georgia (13%, 127 thousand) and Iran (7%, 69 thousand). The top five also includes India (3%, 24.9 thousand) and the USA (2%, 17 thousand).