Tourist visits to Russia fell to five-year low in first half of 2026
From January to June 2026, foreigners made 2.99 million tourist trips to Russia. That’s 19.6% less than the same period last year, according to Russian news outlet Kommersant, which cited official statistics.
According to the newspaper, this is the worst result for the first half of the year since 2021.
Sergey Romashkin, vice president of the Association of Tour Operators of Russia, put the drop in inbound tourism at 15% year on year. He said the decline has become even more pronounced over the summer, though he didn’t offer specific figures. Marina Levchenko, general director of the Tari Tour travel company, cited a steeper fall: around 20% year on year.
The Economic Development Ministry, meanwhile, prefers to measure tourist traffic by the number of foreigners staying in hotels. By that measure, the figure rose 23% between January and May, though June data have yet to be released. Hotel operators, however, said they have seen no comparable increase.
Experts interviewed by the newspaper trace the downturn to the war in the Middle East and cutbacks in flight schedules. Tourists are also being deterred by reports of the fuel crisis, airport disruptions, and the high cost of travel.
