OREANDA-NEWS. This year, the leading tourist regions of Russia, including the Krasnodar Territory, Crimea, the Moscow Region and St. Petersburg, received about 58 million travelers, said Maya Lomidze, Executive Director of the Association of Tour Operators of Russia (ATOR), speaking at the annual Travelpayouts summit.

Speaking about the final indicators of domestic tourism in the season of 2021, Lomidze noted the 12 most popular regions of Russia among tourists.

"We see the dynamics - plus 15-20 percent relative to the level of 2019. Of course, there are exception regions that lacked tourists, but this is an insignificant decrease compared to the pre-pandemic period. In total, they received about 58 million travelers," Lomidze said.

The most popular were the Krasnodar Territory, which in the first nine months of this year received 14.5 million tourists, Moscow Region - 10.2 million, Crimea - 8.3 million, St. Petersburg - 3 million, Tatarstan - 2.7 million, Irkutsk Region - 1.1 million and Yekaterinburg - 1 million.

The Stavropol Territory was visited by 0.8 million tourists in eight months, and Kaliningrad - 1.3 million. For six months, tourists have come to Moscow about 13 million times, and to the Altai Republic - 1.1 million.

According to Lomidze, domestic tourism is the most active and lively segment that generates the highest income at the moment. "The country is breaking records here. It is clear that 80% of the total tourist flow are independent travelers, but, nevertheless, the tour operator segment has grown this year," she added.