The Italian National Tourism Board, ENIT, reports a 33% increase in the number of visas issued for the Moscow tour operators to Italy. From Jan - May 2010, almost 87,000 visas were issued, compared to 65,000 in the same period last year. During the first 2 weeks of June alone, 58.000 visas were issued, which is almost twice the amount of last June. According to ENIT, the leading Tour Operators for Italy, (based on the no. of visas issued during the first 5 months of this year) are: Pac Group (14.062, + 34%), Danco Travel (12.385 visas, +85%) and Natalie Tours (6.052 visas). The Top players are followed by Ascent Travel (3.298 visas), Erasmo Viaggi (3.053 visas) and Lanta Tour Voyage (1.989 visas).
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Albania is planning to open a tourism office in Russia. The announcement comes from the Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport, Nicole Lesi. According to the Ministry, 30.000 Russians visited Albania in 2009. Albania is a visa free destination for Russians during the Summer. At the moment there are no direct regular or charter flights from Russia to Albania.
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The demand for travel to Croatia from Russia is estimated to increase by 23% by the end of 2010 according to Mladen Falkoni, Director of the Croatian Tourism Board office in Russia. The 23% growth will bring the figures back to those achieved in 2008, before the crisis. Over the first 5 months of 2010, there is already a 30% increase in Russian visitors to Croatia, compared to last year. The main tour operator for Croatia are BSI and Intourist who started selling Croatia in 2010, and Megapolus and Adriatis Tour who launched their charter flights to Zadar in Northern Dalmatia. According to the tour operators, Croatia is mainly sold as a solo destination, but Croatia combined with Montenegro, Hungary, Slovenia or Italy is also growing in popularity.
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Vladimir Vorobiev, the former President of Natalie Tours, has changed his position to focus on the development of Natalie's incoming DMC structure in Spain, for which Natalie tours is one of the market leaders. He will also be responsible for the development of an online booking system called Tourix Holidays, as this is one of the fastest growing sectors Russian travel. pancer.com.ua