Murmansk Region as a Center of Attraction for Chinese Tourism in the Russian Federation

Abstract

Chinese tourism to Russia showed an overall positive trend right up to the introduction of significant international travel restrictions in 2020. In addition to the regions traditionally popular among Chinese travelers, in recent years such centers have begun to stand out, in which the growth rate of the PRC’s tourist presence in percentage terms is significantly ahead of the all-Russian level. One of these regions is the Murmansk region. Given the fact that China has enough resources and leverage to use international tourism as a tool to achieve foreign policy goals, a substantive consideration of the success of the Murmansk region as a center of attraction for Chinese tourism in the Russian Federation is a prerequisite for understanding the nature of the phenomenon.