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Russia plays a significant part in the world tourism according to report “Russian tourism market report: trends, analysis and statistics. How to impress Russian tourists and attract them to your country”. In 2012 Russians spent 43 billion US dollars for holidays abroad. Thanks to that, Russia got among the TOP 5 countries with the highest expenditure of their citizens for holidays and travel abroad.
Between 2013 and 2014 Russia held the 5th place, but between 2015 and 2016 it lost its position and was far from the TOP 10 countries due to the currency crisis. In 2017 Russia moved from 11th to 8th place (+13% expenditure) and reached the TOP 10 again. The rising international tourism expenditure reflect the economic upsurge of the country.
Overview of the Russian outbound tourism market
During 2014 and 2015, Russia went through the currency crisis, which was caused by the drop of oil prices as well as the economic sanctions over the conflict with Ukraine. As a result, the ruble went down against other currencies, and the economic climate deteriorated, which adversely affected the tourism market.
However, in 2017, the market began to grow once again. According to the government statistics, 42 million people traveled abroad in 2017, including 15 million for tourism purposes.
The upward trend has continued. From January to September 2018, 2 million more tourists traveled to foreign countries compared to the same period in 2017.
What countries are attractive to Russians
Excluding all CIS countries (where Russians travel mostly for work and to visit their relatives), Turkey is the most popular country for Russians by a significant margin. 3.9 million Russian tourists visited the country in January-September 2017 and almost a million more (4.9 million) in the same period in 2018. Besides Turkey, the most popular countries among Russian tourists are: China, Thailand, Spain, Greece, Italy, Cyprus, Germany, UAE, Tunisia.
Top 15 countries visited the most by Russian tourists between January and September 2018, excluding CIS region:
- Turkey 4,907 (+24%)
- Finland 2,498 (+1%)
- China 1,449 (-2%)
- Estonia 1,343 (+5%)
- Germany 950 (+4%)
- Italy 849 (+19%)
- Poland 829 (-11%)
- Spain 808 (+2%)
- Thailand 794 (+17%)
- Greece 749 (+6%)
- Cyprus 695 (-6%)
- UAE 645 (+42%)
- Tunisia 558 (+22%)
- Lithuania 498 (-1%)
- Bulgaria 418 (-10%)
How much are tourists from Russia willing to pay for a trip
Visa, the international payment company, released their Visa Global Travel Intentions Study and revealed how much money people from different countries spend on a trip. Between 2016 and 2017, Russian travelers spent $1,676 per one trip – more than European travelers who spend $1,174. At the same time, 51% of the budget is spent before the trip, and 49% – at the place of destination. 70% of Russians use bank cards when they plan their travel trips.
Source: tourism-review.com
