Russian business flights to China see record surge – RIA

Overall tourist flow also saw a fivefold increase in same period, the first quarter of 2023

Russian business travelers booked fourteen times as many flights to China from January through March 2023 compared to the same period a year ago, RIA Novosti reported on Tuesday, citing data provided by online airline booking agency Aviasales.

The press office of Russia’s top travel-planning portal also told the media that bookings for business flights in the second quarter of the current year, which ends in two weeks, have already seen their year-on-year increase grow by a factor of 23.

“Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou are the most popular cities for Russian business travelers,” a spokesperson for Aviasales business service said, as cited by media.

According to the company, the spike in booking for business trips is attributed to the lifting of Covid-related restrictions in China, which kept it closed to foreign tourists until January of this year.

“Then, the quarantine upon arrival in the country was canceled and the issuance of tourist visas to Russians was restored,” the press office said.

READ MORE: Chinese tourists change travel destinations

Separately, head of the Moscow Tourism Committee Evgeny Kozlov said on Monday that tourist flow from China to the Russian capital in the first quarter of the current year saw a fivefold growth compared with the same period in 2022. The official added that over 25,000 travelers from China visited Moscow from January through March 2023.

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