Outbound tourism increases in Russia between January and June 2007
According to Rosturism statistics, tourism in Russia prospered during the first half of the year, with outbound tourism showing an increase of 31.3% compared to just 13% during the same period in 2006. The rise indicates that interest in holidays abroad is increasing amongst Russian tourists. In fact, more and more people are going on holiday not just twice, but three or four times a year.

The number of Russian tourists going to Turkey has increased by 27.4%, restoring it to the top spot in the destinations chart, having lost out to China in 2006. However, Turkey’s popularity has being threatened by Egypt, its main competitor, as an impressive 49.3% more tourists visited the country compared to last year’s figures.

European destinations also performed well: Croatia increased by 54.5%, Austria 37.5%, Italy 37.3%, Greece 34.8%, Bulgaria 29.9%, Switzerland 26.3%, Montenegro 23.7% and Spain 22%. Visits to Germany were down 28.6% last year because of visa problems, however, by April the matter was resolved and the result was a 43.6% increase in visits. As a result of heightened promotional activities, Poland also received good results: an increase of 175.5%.

Even countries that have caused problems for tour operators and tourists performed well. Despite some visa problems, outbound tourism to Great Britain increased by 31.3%. Czech Republic welcomed more than 36.2% of Russian tourists. Interest in France as a tourism destination also increased, although less than its neighbours – 14.5%. Skiing remains the biggest attraction for Russian tourists in France.

Asia and Middle East showed similar growth. Vietnam is still in demand – with an increase of 91%. At the end of October, Vietnam Airlines will launch new flights from Moscow to Hoshimin. Thailand also performed well, with an increase of 69.7%, although growth was slow compared to last year when the country showed a 121% increase in tourism. UAE did not perform well last year (1.3%), however, this year, it saw an increase of 20%. The same was true of Israel – a 29.2% increase this year compared with 5.4% in 2006.

Only two destinations underperformed this year with no obvious reason – Estonia and Latvia. In comparison to these two countries, the visa procedure to Lithuania is far more complicated, however, the latter showed good results, and the number of tourists visiting the country almost doubled.