In the first half of this year, Moscow saw a 33% increase in visitors as compared to the similar period of 2018. Between January and June, about 11.5 mio tourists visited the city, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said.
According to Sobyanin, a total of 23.5 mio tourists visited Moscow in 2018. Many experts claimed this was due to the FIFA World Cup. Yet, with no such large-scale events taking place in Moscow this year, the city has already seen over 11 mio visitors in the first six months.
Moscow Mayor believes a large number of festivals and cultural events is what attracts visitors. But the actual reasons for the increase in tourist arrivals may be different: following the accession of Crimea to Russia that resulted in the ruble plummeting twofold against the dollar, Moscow has become one of the most affordable destinations for European and Chinese tourists.