It’s perhaps unsurprising to learn, that fewer people are holidaying in Russia. However, the extent of the drop off in tourism is dramatic to say the least.

The Association of Tour Operators of Russia reported: Foreign tourism to Russia fell below 4% of its pre-pandemic levels in 2022, with just a mere 200,100 tourists travelling to Russia last year. Comparing the reduction to 2019, before the Covid-19 pandemic, that’s a whopping 96.1% decrease from 5.1 million tourists.

Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, the ongoing horror stories and stomach churning atrocities committed by Russian soldiers, Putin’s brutal suppression of free speech in Russia (see below images), coupled with Russian sanctions effecting flight travel to Russia and use of Visa and Mastercard cards there, are all playing their negative tourism part.

Here’s a link to The Moscow Times report on this, which has a link to The Association of Tour Operators of Russia.