Russia has announced its intention to withdraw from the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO). This was reported by the TASS agency with reference to the organization's Twitter.
The report said that the exit procedure could take a year.
The World Tourism Organization, operating under the auspices of the UN, is designed to make tourism as accessible as possible for citizens from participating countries. Among its goals are also the fight against any obstacles to the free international movement of people, the coordination of tourism activities on a regional and interregional scale, as well as research work in the field of tourism.
Russia (then still the USSR) joined the organization in 1975, but then, with most countries of the world, its participation was rather formal and theoretical. Active practical cooperation began only in 1993, when Russia, within the framework of the organization, began to conclude agreements with a number of foreign countries on cooperation in the tourism sector, as well as to simplify visiting the country for foreigners.