OREANDA-NEWS   This year, China has become not only a discovery for Russians as a popular travel destination, but also as a new transit hub offering cheaper transportation than its Middle Eastern competitors, Artur Muradian, Vice president of the Association of Tour Operators of Russia (ATOR), told RIA Novosti in an interview.

"China can be recognized as the discovery of the year. This year, this direction has shown the most dynamic growth - hundreds of percent, due to the significant expansion of air traffic. The Chinese direction continues to develop not only from the point of view of beach tourism, sightseeing and so-called bleisure holidays are in demand (combining work trips and vacations – ed.)," Muradyan said.

"In addition, China confidently intercepts the palm tree for transit to the entire eastern part of the globe. This is due to the fact that Chinese carriers, taking advantage of the opportunity to put wide-body aircraft around the world and not fly over Russian airspace, offer tariffs more profitable than those of Middle Eastern competitors. We expect that either the Turkish side will respond to this, or it will continue to lose transit traffic. Because the price from Turkey is too high for long-distance destinations," he added.