Russia’s inbound tourism sector has seen a notable slowdown in 2025, with the number of foreign visitors arriving for leisure dropping by 6.3% during the peak summer season, according to new data from the Border Service of the FSB.
Between July and September 2025, foreign tourists made 655,802 visits to Russia. Overall inbound travel across all purposes fell 12.1% year-on-year, totalling 4.4 million entries for the period.
The decline was largely driven by a sharp drop in Chinese arrivals, which fell 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Visitors from the United Arab Emirates also decreased by 10.3%, while other markets such as Saudi Arabia and Oman recorded strong percentage growth — though their absolute numbers remained too small to offset the overall downturn.
Tourism experts say multiple factors contributed to the decline, including periodic airport closures that disrupted flight schedules earlier in the summer, a strengthening ruble, roaming restrictions, and broader logistical challenges that have made travel to Russia more complicated.
Despite the drop, China remains Russia’s dominant inbound market, accounting for over half of all foreign leisure visits — 372,771 trips in Q3 alone. Germany ranked second with 27,369 recorded entries, though most were for business or personal visits rather than sightseeing.
According to official figures, the Top 10 source markets for tourism visits to Russia in Q3 2025 were:
- China
- Germany
- Saudi Arabia
- Turkmenistan
- UAE
- Turkey
- Iran
- India
- Oman
- Kazakhstan
Industry analysts say the figures reflect a shifting landscape: while Russia continues to draw travellers from Asia and the Middle East, fluctuating accessibility and geopolitical uncertainty are weighing heavily on overall demand.
