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Over 5m Russian tourists visit Belarus in 2023

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MINSK, 16 April (BelTA) – More than 5 million Russian tourists visited Belarus in 2023, Deputy Sports and Tourism Minister Oleg Andreichik said at a press conference timed to the 26th edition of the international tourism exhibition-fair Leisure 2024, BelTA has learned.

“Today, the Russian tourism market is the biggest and most promising for us. Tourist flows between our countries have been growing by 50% annually over the past two to three years. According to the National Statistical Committee, last year over 5 million Russian tourists visited our country (the total number of inbound tourists was 5.8 million). Now this is our key market, and it is rapidly expanding,” said Oleg Andreichik.

According to him, previously Russians visited only Minsk and regional centers, while now they visit district centers and national parks (like Polotsk, Lake Area, Nalibokskaya Pushcha).

“In addition to St. Petersburg and Moscow, Belarusian tourists put the Caucasus and central Russia on their travel radar. They also started actively exploring other CIS countries, mostly  Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Azerbaijan,” he said.

The deputy minister noted that it is important to improve logistics. The national airport operates flights to almost two dozen Russian regions. Yet, now there is a demand to fly to more than three dozen regions. All flights are loaded at 70-80% of their capacity.

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