News Flash

egyptAccording to the Egyptian tourism board, Egypt received almost a million and a half Russians during the first half of 2010, making it a record 70% increase compared to 2009. In June 2010 alone, there was an increase of 38% with over 141,000 Russians travelling to Egypt. Russians who travel to Egypt have an average stay of 9 nights. The overall no. of nights by Russians increased by 55% and reached a record 13.3 million bed nights. According to Russian tour operators selling Egypt, the most popular summer resort in Egypt is Hurgada, due to its milder weather, which is more suitable for families with children.

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Another destination that set a record in the Russian arrivals this year is Thailand. Over 305.000 Russians visited Thailand in the first 6 months of 2010, which is a stunning 102% increase, compared to the same period of last year, according to the Thai Tourism board in Moscow. However, in absolute numbers, Russia still only in 7th  position in terms of source markets for inbound tourism.

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86,000 Russians went to Cyprus during Jan-June 2010, a 40% increase on 2009 figures. According to the National Tourism Board of Cyprus, Russian tourists are higher - spenders than their European counterparts, with the average spend of a Russian tourist around 880 Euro per trip compared to 600 Euros per trip for other European nationalities. The average duration of a stay for Russians is 9 days. Russia is the 2nd most important source market for Cyprus after the UK, but the gap between the two is still large, with Russians accounting for 9.7% tourists while the UK still accounts for 47% of the market, however the British share is on a downward trend at the moment.

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helsinkiAs reported by Finland's Statistic Service, Russia has now become the leading source market for Finland followed by Sweden and Germany. From Jan - May 2010, over 200,000 Russians visited Finland, which is a 6% increase on last year. In May alone, 32.000 Russians went to Finland which was the best result ever for May. The most popular regions of Finland for Russians are Uusima (Helsinki region), South Karelia and Lapland. Nevertheless, the average duration of a stay by Russians is very low, only 1.7 nights on average, which seems to suggest a lot of transit traffic on the way to somewhere else.