According to preliminary data from the regions hosting the 2018 FIFA World Cup, the tournament host cities welcomed a combined total of over 5 million tourists in June. This was reported by Oleg Safonov, Head of the Federal Tourism Agency, during a meeting press conference held on July 5, 2018, at the 2018 FIFA World Cup city press center in Moscow.
The tourist flow to the Russian capital amounted to more than 2.7 million people, to St. Petersburg - 600 thousand, to Sochi - 519 thousand, to Samara - 224 thousand, to Rostov-on-Don - 190 thousand, to Kazan - 180 thousand, to Yekaterinburg - 165 thousand, to Saransk - 160 thousand, to Kaliningrad - 130 thousand, to Nizhny Novgorod - 120 thousand, to Volgograd - 111 thousand tourists.
The increase in tourist arrivals to the 2018 FIFA World Cup host cities ranged from 191,000 (Moscow) to 16,781,000 (Saransk). The average increase in tourist arrivals was 741,000.
According to regional data, the number of foreign tourists in the 11 World Cup cities in June was estimated at 2.9 million. This increase compared to June last year ranged from 201 million (in St. Petersburg) to 235 million (in Saransk). In Kaliningrad and Yekaterinburg, inbound tourist traffic in June 2018 increased tenfold compared to the previous year, and in Volgograd, it increased 15fold. Other World Cup cities saw an average increase of 1.5 to 2 times in foreign tourist numbers.
"The 2018 FIFA World Cup is in full swing. The official tourism results of the World Cup will be announced after its conclusion. However, it's already clear that the event is a success. It attracted a large number of guests from Russia and abroad and will provide a powerful long-term positive impact on the industry and the entire national economy," noted Oleg Safonov, Head of the Federal Agency for Tourism.
Source: trn-news.ru