Summer holiday season remain the most important for outbound tourism in Russia. Judging by the number of trips in June 2012, the Russian appetite for visiting long-haul destinations and sun and beach resorts did not decline this summer. Whilst trends for certain destinations are visible, including growth to Thailand, Spain, Montenegro, Italy, Israel, Turkey and Bulgaria. For St- Petersburg residents, there is greater preference for European destinations, such as Larnaca (Cyprus), Milan and Kiev while Moscovites prefer Turkey and Bulgaria. (source: Aviasales.ru)
When planning a trip abroad, 47% of Russians worry about not to obtaining a visa, according to the consumer survey by Skyscanner. This is in comparison with only 9% in other countries, according to a survey among 20,000 people from 12 different countries. 25% of foreign travelers are stressed out by long queues at airports, while Russians are more relaxed about this stressful feature of travel, with only 14% noting that this bothers them. Russians are also not too bothered about getting cheap tickets, with only 9% of Russians saying this is of interest, against 24% of foreign travelers. This is partly due to the lack of cheap flights available in Russia, compared with other countries.
Russians top the list of foreign nationalities that buy real estate in London, according to a research by Knight Frank real estate agents. Out of all the London properties owned by foreigners, Russians have 13.5%, followed by Americans with (11.2%), Italians (8.8%), Indians (8%) and French (6%). Apart from Russians, other nationality from the CIS countries in this rating are Kazakhs, who own 2% of all London properties belonging to foreigners.
According to a survey by Phocuswright, 60% of the Russian’s (of 45 years or less), regularly use the internet, which is quite a high internet penetration. Out of the 40 million daily internet users, 70% can afford to travel. In 2011, 60% Russians made online travel related bookings, which is much higher than in many other European countries, like Italy or Spain.