Tourism – unsurprisingly – at a standstill. According to the Association of Tour Operators of Russia (Ator), the number of visitors to the country fell by 96.1% in 2022, or just over 200,000 foreign tourists. In 2019, this figure was 5 million visitors, a figure that dropped in 2020 due to covid restrictions.
The Germans, who are traditionally the most numerous Europeans to go to Russia, were 25,400 last year to do so compared to more than half a million in 2019. As for the Chinese, who are the most numerous tourists in volume, they have completely disappeared of the list. radar after the drastic sanitary measures in the country.
closed airspace
“The reasons are obvious: the closed airspace between Russia and the vast majority of European countries, as well as the impossibility of using Visa and Mastercard cards issued by foreign banks in Russia,” the association explains in a statement.
Remember that since February 2022, the date of the Russian invasion, Europe has almost completely closed its airspace to Russian planes. In retaliation, the national airline Aeroflot suspended almost all its international flights with the exception of those to “friendly countries”.
Source: BFM TV
