Thousands of Austrian Fans Expected in Russia's Nizhny Novgorod for World Cup

NIZHNY NOVGOROD (Sputnik) - Russia's Nizhny Novgorod Region, which will host six 2018 FIFA World Cup matches, expects up to several thousand of tourists from Austria to come for the tournament this summer as well as afterward, the Nizhny Novgorod Region's acting governor Gleb Nikitin said on Friday.

"We're really counting on tourism and I hope that the figures of the year 2017, when only 600 Austrian tourists visited the Nizhny Novgorod Region, will remain nothing more than a memory and the number of visitors, coming for the World Cup matches and afterwards, will exceed thousands," Nikitin said after a meeting with Austrian Ambassador to Russia Johannes Eigner.

The acting governor added that a lot of new hotels had opened in the region to accommodate tourists ahead of the World Cup.

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The Nizhny Novgorod Region became the first Russian region the Austrian ambassador visited after presenting his letter of credence. Eigner said that although Austria would not play at the 2018 World Cup, Austrian fans would still come to Russia, especially those of Serbian descent.

Serbia has qualified for the upcoming tournament and will play Costa Rica, Brazil and Switzerland in Group E.

Russia's first-ever FIFA World Cup will take place from June 14 to July 15 in 11 host cities. Nizhny Novgorod will host four group-stage matches, as well as one round of 16 game and a quarter-final.