Russia expects 'more tourists from Europe'

Russia expects more tourists from Europe, first of all Germany, France, Britain, Italy, Spain and Finland, Alexander Radkov, the head of the country's federal tourism agency, told the Izvestiya daily. Radkov said other countries that could contribute to the tourist inflow are China, Japan, South Korea, India, the Gulf states, Canada, Mexico and Brazil. The key tourism official said foreign tourists are attracted by Russia's arts and cultural sites, churches and beautiful nature. The federal authorities plan to spend 330 billion rubles ($11.4bn) on tourism development over the next eight years. The share of tourism in Russia's GDP currently does not exceed 2.5%.