Economics News

Russian tourists took a record 60 million trips abroad in the first half of this year, spending a record amount of money via their credit cards, according to tourism and credit card companies. Citibank experts predict Russians will spend $40 billion abroad, around 3% of the country's GDP. Nearly a third of all charges made by Citibank credit card holders were made outside of Russia in the first half of 2011. Last year that number was 20%.

Despite the most popular travel destinations in Russia being Turkey, China, Egypt Thailand and Finland, Russian tourists spent most of their money on retail items in Italy and the United States, while in Ukraine the biggest spending was on accommodation. Last year, Russians spent $5.8 billion abroad on their Visa cards. There was a 36% increase in the number of Russian tourists using Visa cards while traveling compared to 2009. Transactions abroad increased 43 % on last year. The Visa report noted that the Caribbean countries of Cuba and the Dominican Republic benefited from the Arab Spring, with the number of Russian tourists increasing by 106% and 65%, respectively.