Turkey remained the No. 1 destination for Russian tourists in 2020 despite the unabating coronavirus pandemic that has hit the tourism industry hard.

Some 1.6 million tourists from Russia are expected to visit Turkey this year, the Association of Tour Operators of Russia (ATOR) said in a tourism outlook report published Thursday.

Russian arrivals in Turkey fell more than 77% year-on-year in 2020. More than 6.9 million Russians visited Turkey in pandemic-free 2019.

No other country was even close to hosting 1 million Russian tourists, as second-placed Thailand saw a little over 500,000 arrivals.

According to the report, Russia's outbound tourism plunged 77.5% this year.

Moscow had suspended all international air traffic on March 27 in an effort to stem the spread of COVID-19. Flights between Turkey and Russia resumed Aug. 10 as both charter and scheduled planes started bringing thousands of Russian tourists to Turkish resorts.

Detailed information on the subject for Russian speakers can be found on Now Turkey.