ST. PETERSBURG, Dec. 12 (Xinhua) -- Middle Eastern tourists made the most hotel reservations among all foreigners traveling to Russia this winter, Russian travel news agency RTN reported Tuesday.
This winter, travelers from the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Kuwait, Oman and other Middle Eastern countries booked the most hotels, accounting for 38 percent of all tourists to Russia, a sharp increase from last year's 23 percent, the report said, citing a study conducted by a major local online hotel booking service, the "Ostrovok" company.
European tourists made almost a quarter of all bookings by foreigners this winter, down from last year's 32 percent.
Travelers from Asian countries, including Thailand, India and China, made 19 percent of foreign bookings in Russian hotels, while the share of requests from CIS countries was 10 percent.
The most popular Russian city for foreign tourists remains Moscow with 60 percent of hotel bookings, followed by St. Petersburg with 18 percent of the bookings, according to the report. ■
