Market News

Top Destinations This Summer

Greece is going to be one of the top destinations for the Russians this summer, according to the Russian Travel Industry Union (RST). During May holidays, tour operators noted that there was a  34% increase in charters to Greece compared  to last year. However the leading destination is still  Turkey, followed by Egypt, China and Thailand. Other key European destinations, apart from Greece, include Spain, which has been supported by the Spanish Embassies decision to issue multiple visas to many Russian visitors as well as the increase in charter flights to Spain to over 200  a week to different Spanish regions. Other destinations which remain popular but are not in the Top 10 destinations are: Bulgaria, Cyprus, Ukraine, Austria, France, Switzerland and Montenegro. Croatia lost over 50%, according to different estimates, due to the introduction of the visa regime and the absence of efficient visa centers prior to the start of the summer season.

Top 10 summer destinations for Russians

            1. Turkey
            2. Egypt
            3. China
            4. Thailand
            5. Spain
            6. Germany
            7. Greece
            8. Italy
            9. UAE
            10. Finland

In Love with Luxury

Quoting the Bain & Company survey, Russian leading business newspaper Vedomosti reported that Russians are becoming the main consumers for the European luxury brands, with only the Chinese ahead of the Russians. According to this survey, Russians spend much more on luxury goods abroad then at home, with the main destinations for high-end spend,  being Italy, France and Dubai. Apart from shopping, Russians have a higher average spend than any other European tourists. According to UNWTO, the total tourist expenditure for Russian outbound travel in 2012 was 43 billion USD, which makes Russia one of the top 5 spenders in the world, while the Chinese the no. 1 high spenders spending a total of 102 billion USD in 2012.

Destination News

The Spanish region of Tenerife, recently opened a Tourism office in Moscow. They announced that from January-April 2013, 74% more Russians visited the region than during the previous year, making a total of 33 000 visitors. 10 000 Russians visited Tenerife in April alone. The growth is in line with the total growth of Russian tourists to Spain which reached 1.2 million in 2012 (a 40% increase compared to 2011). Spain expects another 35% growth in Russia visitors in 2013. According to the Spanish survey, Russians spend on average 152 EUR per day per person while staying in Tenerife, which is more than any other nationality.

South Korea may become visa free for the Russians by the end of 2013. Russian and South Korean authorities reached an agreement about the introduction of the reciprocal visa free regime for the trips up to 60 days long.

Russia is now 4th source market for the Dominican Republic, according to the country's Tourism Ministry. The top 3 are USA, Canada and France.

Online Bookings

With Russians getting more confident in making online payments, the market of online services, including the travel sector, is expected to boom in the near future. According to various surveys, including ComScore, in 2011, Russia had the largest no. of internet users in Europe with a total of 53 million users, beating even Germany. This figure is 14% increase compared to 2010. According to Mastercard, 40% of Russians now use credit cards to make payments, and this number is constantly growing.

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