The weak ruble has boosted tourism in Russia

Last year, tourist arrivals to Russia increased by 13 percent due to the weakening ruble – said Oleg Safonov, leader of the Roszturizm Russian Federal Tourism Agency at the Intourmarket international exhibition in Moscow.

Safonov said that that most visitors came from China and South-East Asia to Russia. He regretted that the number of European tourists has decreased.

According to data published in early March by the Russian Tourism Industry Association in 2015 the number of Russians traveling abroad decreased by 31.3 percent to 12.1 million. It is the largest decline measured in the last 18 years. (Pogár Demeter, MTI)