The inflow of Russian tourists to Armenia decreased by 6.8 percent in the first nine months of 2024 compared to the same period of 2023. Minister of Economy Gevorg Papoyan stated this during Thursday’s debates on the 2025 state budget draft at the joint meeting of the standing committees of the National Assembly of Armenia.

According to Papoyan, previously the percentage of Russians in the total tourist flow to Armenia was 50 percent, but so far this year it is 43 percent.

"In January-September 2024, the number of visitors who arrived [in Armenia] from Russia amounted to 741 thousand people," said Papoyan.

The economy minister considered the activities of Russian television as one of the reasons for this reduction.

"The Russian TV channels, in particular, reported that there are 200,000 people on the streets of [Armenia’s capital] Yerevan. That's why fewer tourists [from Russia] came here in the spring," explained the member of the Armenian government.

A total of 1,721,245 people have visited Armenia so far this year, the economy minister noted.