The war in Ukraine has fundamentally changed who visits Russia. European tourists have all but vanished, replaced by travelers from China and the Middle East, a demographic shift that reflects the broader realignment of Russia’s international relationships since the invasion of 2022.
Fewer than 6,000 French tourists visited Russia in 2025, most of them traveling for family reasons. There are no direct flights from Europe. The reputation of Russia as a destination has plummeted across the continent. Before the pandemic, Russia received 5 million foreign tourists a year. Now that number is three times lower.
But the total figures mask a dramatic shift in where visitors come from.
Chinese tourists now make up nearly half of all foreign visitors to Russia. Since December 2024, Chinese citizens have not needed a visa to enter. The number of Chinese arrivals has multiplied by 4.5, and the total flow of visitors from China has doubled compared to the previous year.
“You love Russia?” a Chinese tourist named Liam told Franceinfo near Red Square. “I love Russia. Right now I’m learning Russian. I really liked the Kremlin and then I’m going to Red Square, very pretty.”
Middle Eastern tourists are also filling the gap. Visitors from Iran, Jordan, and the Gulf states are increasingly choosing Russia as a destination. Brahim, a Jordanian tourist visiting Moscow with his family, said: “We saw on social media that Moscow was recommended for tourism. The standard of living is very good, we didn’t expect that. The people are friendly, it’s quiet, safe, very safe. You don’t see any delinquents or threatening people.”
Yuri Borzykin, vice-president of the Russian Tourism Union, confirmed the pattern. “The first place goes of course to our comrades from the People’s Republic of China. Since last year or the year before, their number has multiplied by 4.5. The total flow of visitors has doubled compared to last year. But we are still far from the pre-pandemic period, when 5 million tourists came to visit us.”
The shift is not accidental. Russian tourism operators have been diversifying their marketing toward Gulf and Arab world audiences while European markets dried up due to sanctions, the absence of direct flights, and Russia’s pariah status in much of the Western world. At the same time, domestic tourism has grown as Russians face Schengen visa difficulties and expensive flights to Europe.
The war has also affected where Russians themselves travel within their own country. The vast country offers diverse destinations, but the war has reduced Black Sea bookings this summer, a sign that even domestic tourists are adjusting their behavior in response to the conflict.
The tourism shift is a small but revealing indicator of a larger geopolitical reality: the isolation from Europe that the war has imposed on Russia is being offset, at least partially, by a turn toward Asia and the Middle East. The question is whether that substitution is durable or whether it will reverse if the war ends and relations with Europe eventually thaw.