Tourist flow from Russia to China may grow by up to 40% in 2026 due to visa-free regime

MOSCOW, May 20. /TASS/. Tourist flow from Russia to China may increase by 30-40% in 2026 thanks to extension of the visa-free regime, Head of the international cooperation committee of the Russian Union of Travel Industry Sergey Voytovich told TASS.

"This will create additional incentives for growth in travel. According to our estimates, inbound tourist flow could increase by about 20-25% already this year. Outbound flow could increase by 30-40%," he said.

Andrey Podkolzin, head of PR at tour operator ITM Group, told TASS that the company positively assesses the decision to extend visa-free entry to China through the end of 2027.

Earlier today, China decided to extend the visa-free regime with Russia through the end of 2027, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Guo Jiakun said at a briefing. Russian President Vladimir Putin said during talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping that the introduction of the visa-free regime had stimulated humanitarian contacts between Russia and China. This practice will continue.