Context: In late December 2025, Belarus approved the “Tourism” state program, which aims to increase the industry’s share of the national economy by 2.5 times — from 2% to 5% — over a five-year period. At the beginning of the year, the tourism sector was moved out of the Ministry of Sports and is now overseen by a separate agency, where Anastasia Semashko, an expert on China and the Chinese language, has been appointed deputy head. It can be assumed that Belarus will now focus its efforts on attracting travelers from Asia.
A news report on the First Information Channel on January 18, 2026, highlighted the increasing number of European tourists visiting Belarus:
"Tourism interest in Belarus continues to grow. Since the beginning of the year, about 3,500 Europeans from 38 countries included in the visa-waiver program have visited our country. Most travelers are neighbors from Lithuania, Latvia, and Poland. They come for leisure, shopping, and quality medical services."
Data from the State Border Committee failed to back up the News.by host’s claims: interest is not rising, but falling. As of January 12, 2026, 3,362 Europeans had entered Belarus under the visa-free program since the start of the year. That is 1,500 fewer than a year ago and 3,000 fewer than in 2024. Compared to three years ago, the figure has dropped by 10,000. This means that over the past three years, interest among Europeans visiting the country during the New Year holidays has plummeted fourfold. Admittedly, poor weather in early and mid-January — including heavy snowfall, freezing temperatures, and icy roads — may have impacted visitor numbers from the EU in 2026.
The decline in previous years was observed beyond just the winter holidays. Following a relatively successful 2023 for the tourism industry, the number of Western visitors to Belarus nearly halved in 2024. This downward trend continued into 2025.
Interest in Belarus is growing only among Russian tourists, whose numbers increased 1.5 times over the past year. On the back of this growth, the director of the National Tourism Agency called 2025 one of the best years in the history of Belarusian tourism.