OREANDA-NEWS  At the time of the conflict, there were about 50,000 tourists in the UAE, and about 7,000 have now been exported, Dmitry Arutyunov, co-head of the Russian Union of Travel Industry (PCT) committee on outbound tourism, said on Wednesday.

"When it all started, both PCT and ATOR gave a figure that about 50,000 tourists were there, but yesterday about 7,000 passengers were taken back. Not all of them are package tourists. There are about 23 thousand of them - these are the ones who bought a flight tour. Some are self-tourists, some have bought only ground handling," he said at a press conference.

According to Arutyunov, starting from Saturday, almost the entire Russian tourism industry is working 24/7, especially tour operators who deal with the countries of the Middle East.

"The main task is, first of all, to ensure the safety of our citizens in the countries affected by this conflict. The second goal is their speedy and safe return to their homeland. Accordingly, various efforts are being made to achieve this. Hotline telephones have been opened for all tour operators, and host companies that work with the Russian market have also opened hotline telephones. As a basic result, I can say that everyone is alive and well, everyone has been provided with accommodation. If not provided, then, accordingly, you can always contact the hotline by phone, and either the Russian tour operator or the host party will provide everyone with housing," the expert added.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Economic Development on Tuesday recommended that Russian tourists refrain from traveling to the UAE, Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar and Saudi Arabia until the situation normalizes, and tour operators refrain from promoting and selling tours to these countries.