03.03.2021

Top inbound tourism markets for Belarus in 2020 unveiled

As many as 81,000 inbound organized mass tourists visited Belarus in 2020, BelTA learned from the National Statistics Committee.

Most of inbound tourists were from Russia (64.5%). Other top inbound tourism markets for Belarus were Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Germany, Turkey, Ukraine, Iraq, Israel, Switzerland, Bulgaria, and the United Arab Emirates. On average, foreign visitors spent in Belarus six days in 2020.

As of late 2020, there were 1,348 tourist organizations in Belarus. They provided services to 911,100 people. More than 250,000 organized mass tourists from Belarus went abroad in 2020. The CIS countries accounted for 7.2% of them, the EU – for 10%, and other counties – for 82.8%. The most popular travel destinations for Belarusian tourists were Egypt, Turkey, Ukraine, Poland, Montenegro, Albania, Russia, Lithuania, Tunisia, and the United Arab Emirates. These countries accounted for 91.4% of the total outbound organized mass tourists.

In 2020, 571,500 Belarusians bought domestic tours from travel agencies and 494,500 people went on a one-day trip to tourist destinations in Belarus.

As many as 613 hotels and other lodging establishments operated in Belarus in 2020. They provided services to 1,071,100 people, 70.1% of whom were Belarusians and 29.9% – foreign nationals. A total of 483 recreation and recuperation establishments operated in Belarus last year. They welcomed 628,600 people, including 74,300 (11.8% of the total) foreigners.

According to the Belarusian Taxes and Duties Ministry, there were 2,936 agro-ecotourism establishments in the country in 2020, which provided services to 433,300 people, 97.9% of whom were domestic tourists.