Market News

50% increase of visas to Spain

Tour Espana, the Spanish national tourism board, reports a 50% increase in the visas issued for the Russian tourists during the first 5 months of 2010. In May, the Spanish Visa center in Russia issued 56% more visas than in May 2009. The figures are also higher than in 2008, which showed a record growth in arrivals to Spain from Russia. In relations to the growing popularity of Spain as a leisure destination for Russians, S7 airlines starts a direct weekly flight from Moscow to Mallorca. Leading Tour Operators selling Spain note a 20-30% increase of demand for the summer period compared to last summer, and say it has already reached the levels of 2008. New players in the market - Pegas Touristik, Coral Travel and Lanta Tour Voyage, also report a good demand. The most popular destinations in Spain for Russians are Costa Brava, Costa Daurae, Tenerife and Mallorca. The tourists prefer 4 and 5 star hotels and make their bookings only 2-3 weeks in advance. The average cost of a package tour to Spain is about 1000-1300 euro.

More FIT travel and online booking

According to the survey by the Russian public opinion research center Comcon, 26% of Russians prefer Egypt as a holiday destination. The survey shows that in the second quarter of 2010 the no. of people wishing to visit Egypt increased by 26%, against 15% in the first quarter of 2010. On the other hand, the no. of Russian tourists wishing visit Europe, decreased from 48% in Q1 to 39% in Q2, this is mainly due to visa issues and the high cost of visiting Europe. The no. of Russians who prefer to book their holidays by themselves on the internet, increased during the first quarter of 2010, by 21% in comparison with to 18% in Q 1, 2009. This underlies a growing interest in online booking in the Russian market, especially for the young professionals and Upper Middle class segment, who are well-travelled and speak a foreign language.

NTO's increase their budgets for Russia

The budget of the promotion of Russia by the Turkish Ministry of Tourism already reached $8 million in the first 6 months of 2010, while the whole 2009 budget was $10 million. Israel plans to double its budget for Russia in 2010 by investing $3 million in advertising and $3,5 million in various promotional activities. Greece has one of the largest national tourism board budgets for Russia, despite the financial situation in the country it has allocated 12 million Euro for promotion in Russia. Tunisia, another rapidly growing destination for Russia, is not planning any budget increase in 2010 and allocating the same $700,000 as in 2009. Cyprus has not confirmed its budget for Russia, but plans to increase the budget for 2011 and to improve its marketing strategy. Apart from the budget increase, another trend for many NTO's working in Russia is to be including the key regional cities into their promo campaigns.