Russia expects more tourists from China

Moscow hopes to attract more visitors from China during the "Tourism Year of Russia" in China, a senior Russian official told Xinhua in a recent interview. Alexander Radkov, head of federal tourism agency Rosturizm, said China was a strategic partner for his country in many fields, including politics, economy, culture and tourism and mutual cooperation in tourism was shaping up well. The Tourism Year is the third of its kind between China and Russia, following the Sino-Russian National Year and the China-Russia Year of Language held in 2006 and 2009, respectively. Radkov believed the Tourism Year would bring closer relations to the two peoples. "The 'Tourism Year of Russia' will absolutely improve our country's national image in China and make Russian tourist attractions more popular among the Chinese people, which will arouse their interest to come here," Radkov said. The year, an initiative of the leaders of both countries to boost the China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership of cooperation, will be officially launched at the end of March in Beijing. A "Tourism Year of China" is expected to be launched in Russia in 2013. Radkov said hundreds of events would be held during the Tourism Year. Russia would improve its infrastructure such as customs and accommodation to greet Chinese visitors, he said. "China is a very big potential market for Russia's tourism industry, and Russia expects to attract more Chinese visitors to enjoy the view here," Radkov said. He said the number of Chinese tourists visiting Russia had increased in recent years. Russian statistics show about 234,000 Chinese visited the country in 2011, up 48 percent year-on-year. Meanwhile, Russians also favored China as their tourist destination, Radkov said, adding they went to China for its culture, medical treatment and shopping. Tourism cooperation between China and Russia was proceeding smoothly. In 2010, the two countries signed an agreement on tourism safety insurance to provide high quality service for the two peoples, Radkov said. According to China's National Tourism Administration (CNTA), China and Russia exchanged more than 3.3 million tourists in 2011.