About 100,000 Chinese will visit Russia during the World Cup, generating¹ 3 billion yuan ($194.74 million) in revenue² for the country, China Youth Daily reported Thursday.

 

世界杯期间大约10万中国游客将出游俄罗斯，将给该国带来30亿元人民币（1.9474亿美元）的收入。

 

Xiao Yinyuan, who is in charge of outbound tourism at Ctrip, said that there are 20 direct flights from China to Russia each day, if each seat is occupied, there will be 4,000 Chinese flying to Russia each day. The fact that 90 percent of seats of some popular flights are taken, combined with the possibility that some fans would arrive on indirect flights, makes Chinese the main source of outbound football fans for the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia, which lasts until July 15, he added.

 

In addition to this prediction based on flights, Ctrip also cited³ data from FIFA, soccer's international governing body, which said that 40,251 tickets have already been sold to Chinese citizens, making China the ninth worldwide in the number of tickets buyers.

 

Those who buy tickets plus some others who get tickets from sponsors and regular tourists will make the number of Chinese visiting Russia during the World Cup reach 100,000, according to Ctrip, which predicted China to be among the top three exporters of tourists to Russia.

 

Easy visa, favorable Chinese currency rates against Russia's Ruble, plus convenient flights result in the World Cup-related tourism boom⁴.

 

Ctrip said that on its own platform, a total of 5,000 Chinese have booked Russia-bound tours, 10 times more than the number of tourists bound for Brazil, where the tournament was hosted four years ago.

 

Each Chinese may spend an average 30,000 yuan on travelling, tickets and living while staying in Russia.

点击收听单词发音