Thailand: By the end of the year, the Thailand Tourism Authority expects to have welcomed 250,000 tourists from Russia in 2007. According to Russian statistics, during the first 6 months of this year, 128,000 Russians visited Thailand, compared to a total of 145,000 for the whole of 2006. Tour operators expect that the winter season will boost sales by 30% compared to last year’s figures.

Bali:  According to Indonesian data, the number of Russian tourists visiting Bali is increasing annually by 30-40%.  This rapid growth, apparent not just during the winter season, but all year round, has also been supported by tour operators.

Finland: Results for the first half of 2007, released by the Finnish tourist board, have confirmed that Russian tourists are still the largest group of foreign visitors to Finland, ahead of German and Swedish tourists, who occupy the second and third places respectively.

The number of Russian tourists to Finland continues to grow.  From January- June 2007, 430,000 Russians made trips of one night or more to Finland, an increase of 28% compared to the same period in 2006 (335,000). Other countries ranked as follows: Germany 257,000 (an increase of 10%), Sweden 230,000 (+2%), Great Britain 227,000 (+16%) and France 141,000 (+4%).

Statistics also indicated a growing number of visas issued in Russia: in Moscow, these grew by 32% and in St. Petersburg, by 15%. The majority of visas were issued for the winter season.

Italy:  During the first nine months of this year, the Italian Embassy’s visa centre in Moscow issued more than 290,000 visas, which is 34.3% more than for the same period last year. A 16.7% increase in the number of visas issued was also registered at the Italian Consulate in St. Petersburg. According to experts, the main reasons for such growth are the increased variety of Italian travel packages on offer, and the increased number of flights available.

Croatia:  According to last year’s figures, the number of tourists to Croatia grew by 7%. The biggest growth was shown in Russia – 42%. About 150,000 Russians visited Croatia in 2007. The most popular destinations were Istria and Central Dalmatia.

The number of flights from Moscow decreased from 76% to 73% of the total number of flights from Russia. However, this was offset by more packages from the regions being available.  Direct charter flights from St. Petersburg, Voronezh, Rostov-on-Don, Surgut, Yekaterinburg and Novosibirsk have been put in place.

Spain:  This year’s summer season performed particularly well – the number of Russian tourists to Spain increased by more than 17%. In comparison, the growth rate in 2006 stopped at exactly 17% (around 346,000 Russians). All this shows the growing interest of Russian tourists in Spain. Tour operators predict an even bigger rise in statistics, as more excursions become available once the ‘beach’ season is over.

Greece:  During the first 8 months of 2007, the number of Russian tourists visiting Greece increased by 20% in comparison with the same period last year, whilst the overall number of tourists to Greece increased by only 8%, which shows that Russia remains the market leader.

According to the Greek Ministry of Tourism, Russian tourists prefer the following destinations: around 28% travel to Cyprus, 15-17% - to Halkidiki; Rhodes and Corfu are visited by 5-6%, whilst around 12% chose Athens and Attica. The remainder of the tourists are spread across the country’s different regions.

Turkey:  The number of foreign visitors to Turkey has risen by 23.5%. A total of 2.8 bln tourists arrived in Turkey in September 2007. The top ten countries choosing Turkey as a tourist destination are: Germany, Russia, Great Britain, Bulgaria, the Netherlands, Iran, U.S., Ukraine, Israel and France.

Argentina:  According to tour operators, Argentina is becoming an increasingly popular destination. The number of tourists to the country is growing, although most of the visitors remain independent travellers, who visit Argentina at the same time as Brazil and Chile.