The Russian market figures for 2011 are out and the market managed to grow by a total of 11% although leisure travel increased by 15%, making the Russian outbound market a total of 43 Million travelers of which 14.5 million were pure leisure visitors. However Hotelplan's departure from Russia suggests that although it is a fast growing market, it is still not that easy to do business here. On the other hand TUI Russia and Ukraine (a joint venture) is opening up its own charter airline and successful tour operators such as Coral Travel and Biblio Globus continue to open up new destinations which are increasingly popular in Russia such as Greece and Bulgaria.
Best regards,
Helene Lloyd
Director
TMI Consultancy
TMI wins the representation of Tourism Flanders
Hotelplan sells its stakes of Ascent Travel
The main winners and losers of 2011
43 million Russians went abroad in 2011, according to the latest stats from Rostourism.
TUI Russia will start operating its own airline Metrojet
Russia and France have agreed to allow a second carrier from Moscow to Paris and Nice
Czech Airlines will operate flights to Prague from 6 regional Russian cities
Russia plans to bring its tourism legislation to international standards
For the summer season 2012, one of the leading TO's in Russia, Coral Travel, starts offering Greece as a new destination
Russian traffic to Hong Kong increased by 148% during the month of February 2012
Sri Lanka received 21,000 Russian tourists in 2011
The Dominican Republic received 120,700 Russia visitors in 2011
Estonia received 203,000 Russian tourists in 2011
In 2011 Austria registered 400,400 arrivals from Russia
Bulgaria plans to open 5 new visa centers in Russia
Hotel Metropol will be sold by auction this summer
Moscow hotels remain the most expensive in Europe
Accor Hotel Group has opened a boutique 4* hotel
Marriott will open a property in Krasnoyarsk in 2014
A new Hyatt Regency hotel will be built in Moscow by 2015
In his April address to the Russian parliament, Vladimir Putin pledged to improve the country's low investment profile and encourage global companies to cooperate with Russia.