News Flash
Outbound Leisure Tourism from Russia in the first 6 months of 2009
According to the latest statistics from Russian Federal agency for tourism, for the first half of 2009 (January to June), There was a reduction of 22.6% in the no. of Russians travelling abroad for leisure purposes. As a result, outbound Russian travellers dropped by 3.8 Million, mainly due to the unfavourable the economic situation. However, not all countries were negatively affected several countries still received an increase in the no. of Russian visitors, as the table below shows:
The largest loses were China which experienced a 59% reduction in visitors, followed by the Ukraine with minus 48%. The Baltic states has some gains and some loses, Lithuania had a 47% reduction while Russian figures to Latvia were up by12%, that is mainly due to the simplified procedure for tourist visas for Russians going to Latvia which allows tourists to have a multiple entry visa, while Lithuania only gives single entry visas and strictly for the planned period of stay.
Destinations experiencing substantial loses, were mainly warm, resort holiday destinations, many of them have substantial charter traffic, including: Croatia (-42%), Thailand (-40%), UAE (-25%), Italy (-19,7%), Tunisia (-19,4%), Greece (-18,3%), Finland (-16,7%), Spain (-16%) and France (-14%).
The most popular destinations such as Turkey also lost 18.5%, while Egypt suffered less with a decrease of only 6%. Some of Turkey's traffic was lost to Egypt, who were more flexible and competitive with the hotel prices than Turkey.
However, a no. of destinations experienced substantial growth, they were in the first place: Israel (+63%) followed by the USA (+36%), the Dominican Republic (+31%). Switzerland gained (26%) as did South Korea (+24%), the Netherlands (+21.5%). Part of the reason for the excellent growth in figures to Israel, is due to the introduction of visas on arrival policy for Russians in 2008 as well as its highly competitive prices. The US has also gained for a more liberal visa policy and the lower rate of Dollar against the Rouble compared with that of the Euro. South Korea also gained from a currency devaluation making it attractive destination for shopping, especially from the Far East region of Russia.
Switzerland and the Dominican Republic gained due to the active promotion of their relevant countries as year round destinations. Other winners were the UK, Indonesia. Bulgaria was the only resort country to have increased figures (+8) for the first half of the year. This is mainly due to its competitive prices and proximity to Russia.
Those countries with a stable demand from Russian tourists were : India, Vietnam, Germany, Montenegro and Cyprus.
The Outbound Leisure Travel Statistic from Russia for the first 6 months of 2009
(thousands of trips)
Source: Rostourism
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TUI searched for further Russian Acquisitions
TUI continues its expansion in the Russian market and is now planning to acquire an incoming tour operator. Talks are being held with: Academservice, KMP Group and Svoi Travel. TUI already owns 75% of the large Russian TOs Mostravel and VKO Travel, both leading outbound tour operators.