Russia plans to bring its tourism legislation to international standards, according to an announcement by the Federal Agency for Tourism in March. It plans to sign 'the Convention on the Protection of the Rights of Tourists', developed by the UNWTO. The conventions should be completed in 2013.. In line with this, Russian should create a more simplified visa system for foreign tourists. The request was made by President Dmitry Medvedev, as a result of a meeting devoted to development of tourism cluster in the North Caucasus.
For the summer season 2012, one of the leading TO’s in Russia, Coral Travel, starts offering Greece as a new destination. Coral also plans to increase its business to Turkey by 20% in 2012. In total, Coral will have 36 flights per week to Turkey from different Russian cities. A 30% increase is also planned for business to Spain, also due to increase of charter flights from the regions. According to the official figures, in 2011 Coral (along with other companies of OTI holding operating in Russia) sent abroad one million Russians.
Russian traffic to Hong Kong increased by 148% during the month of February 2012, according to the Hong Kong Tourism Board. In absolute figures, that means that 15,953 visitors went to Hong Kong compared to 6,400 in Feb 2011. In January and February 2012 together, 34,500 Russians visited Hong Kong, an 87% increase on the first two months of 2011.
Sri Lanka received 21,000 Russian tourists in 2011, as well as 12,700 from Ukraine. In 2012, the country expects to receive 30-35,000 Russian visitors, according to the Ambassador of Sri Lanka in Russia. In February 2012, 96% more Russians came to Sri Lanka than in February 2011. According to an agreement signed earlier in 2012, more carriers will fly to Sri Lanka, in addition to the national carriers of the two countries, Aeroflot and Sri Lankan Airlines. S7 has already expressed an interest to start direct flights from Russia to Sri Lanka.
The Dominican Republic received 120,700 Russia visitors in 2011, making Russia its 4th largest European incoming market. Forecasts for 2012 expect the numbers to reach 180,000 arrivals from Russia. The Russian average daily spend in the Dominican rep. is $150 a day, while other tourists spend an average of $110 per day. From October 2012, Aeroflot will start direct flights to Puerto Plata, a resort destination in the north of the Republic. This is in addition to the established direct flights to Punta Cana, by Aeroflot and Transaero.
Estonia received 203,000 Russian tourists in 2011, according to Enterprise Estonia. That's a 116% growth compared to 2010. Russia is now the 2nd largest source market for Estonia after Finland (870,000 visitors in 2011). The most popular destination for Russian tourists in Estonia is its capital Tallinn, but spa resorts and hotels are also growing in popularity. In January 2012, 35,000 Russians visited Estonia for the New Year holidays.
In 2011 Austria registered 400,400 arrivals from Russia (+31% compared to 2010), or 1.5 million overnights. This is according to the Austrian Tourism Board, however Rostourism stats is much lower - 289,000 arrivals. Russia is 11th source market for Austria in terms of the no. of overnights. 70% of Russians visit Austria during the winter season, 30% of them in January, for the New Year holidays, to ski. The main destinations in Austria for Russians are Tirol, Vienna Salzburg. 50% of Russians book 4-5* hotels; in 2011 total expenditures of Russians in Austria grew by 36%, estimating 85 million EUR.
Bulgaria plans to open 5 new visa centers in Russia, making a total of 16 visa centers in Russia. The new centers will open in Sochi, Ufa, Irkutsk, Vladivostok and Khabarovsk. In 2011, Bulgaria issued 350, 000 visas in Russia and since January 2012, Schengen visas are also valid for Bulgaria (even though they are not part of Schengen yet). One of the leading Russian tour operators, Biblio Globus, will start to sell Bulgaria in 2012 and will organise charter flights to Burgas and Varna from Moscow, St-Petersburg and Novosibirsk, up to 2,000 seats per week in total from the 3 cities.