Abu Dhabi plans to open a National Tourism Office in Moscow in 2010. This Emirate has registered a 20% increase in arrivals from Russia. Abu Dhabi has direct flight connections from Moscow, Minks (Belarus), Almaty (Kazakhstan) and Kiev (Ukraine) with the national carrier Etihad airlines.
Spain received 262,000 Russian visitors during the first 7 months of 2010 a 36%. The regional break-down was the following:.
Catalonia |
+59.4% |
Madrid |
+21% |
Canary Islands |
+ 12% |
Andalusia |
-10.5% |
There was a 91% increase in the number of Spanish visas to Russian tourists, in August 2010 than in 2009.
Italy had a 35% increase in traffic during the first 6 months of 2010, from 144,000 in 2009 to 194,000 (Jan-June) 2010. The figures from June - August show a 62% increased compared to last year, according to ENIT. The main summer destination for Russians was Rimini which is feed by a large no. of charter flights from Russian regional cities.
Austria reported a 26% increase of Russian tourists during the first 7 months of 2010, with 190,000 Russians visiting the country, for the skiing and summer vacations. There was a 36% increase from May-July 2010, according to the Austrian NTO.
Jordan showed a 60% increase in arrivals from Russia in the first 7 months of 2010, over 10,000 Russians visited the destination. Figure do not include day trippers visiting from Israel and Egypt.
Bulgaria had a 40% increase of arrivals from Russia, with 300,000 Russian arrivals during the first 6 months of 2010. Bulgaria is now planning to launch a new campaign to develop Bulgaria into an all year round destination, along with the traditional products like winter skiing and summer beach holidays with the main focus on spa, wellness and ecotourism.
Nicaragua has removed visa requirements for Russian tourists, along with a several other Latin American countries, including Chile and Brazil, while Panama has removed charges for group visas for Russians organized by a travel company. Mexico has simplified the visa system for Russians and introduced on-line applications.
At present, Mexico, Cuba and the Dominican Republic are the market leaders from Latin America in the Russian market. Mexico has received an impressive increase in numbers since 2006, when only 6,000 Russians visited the country, while in 2011 they expect not less than 40,000 arrivals from Russia. The tour operator Youzhny Krest "South Cross" has played an important role in opening Mexico, since December 2009, this operator has sent over 7,000 Russian clients to Mexico.
Due to the great increases in the Russian market, many leading tour operators are trying to develop new products, below you can get some idea of what some of the major tour operators are planning for the upcoming winter season.
TUI announced the following destinations of Spain, Turkey, Cyprus and Bulgaria as being their most successful so far this year. By the end of 2010, TUI plans to open up to 120 TUI-branded travel agencies across Russia. 13 TUI travel agents have already opened in St Petersburg.
Intourist, will start to offer packages to the Dominican Republic using Transaero flights to Punta Cana. Other winter destinations include Vietnam, and Egypt. Intourist plans to send up to 300,000 tourists during the winter of 2010-11, a 20% increase on the previous winter.
Transaero Tour, a Leading TO connected to the airline company, Transaero, Transaero tours considers Latin America as one of its main areas for expansion in 2010-2011, they plan to focus on: Cuba, Mexico (Cancun), the Dominican Republic and Mexico.
Ascent Travel, intends to expand from Scandinavia and Croatia, by adding Egypt as a destinations by targeting the FIT, active holidays segment, including tailor-made windsurfing holidays.
Ascent will merger with Rostravel, (a niche tour operator specializing in Scandinavia and Finland), making Rostravel the 2nd Russian company to become part of the Swiss holding company, Hotelplan, which already owns Ascent.
Muzenidis Travel, a Greek Specialist tour operator, has opened a St Petersburg office and during the first 8 months of 2010, has sent over 5,000 St-Petersburg based tourists to Greece, with plans to increase to 12,000 in 2011. Overall Russian statistics shows, from thatJan-June 2010 over 114,000 Russians went to Greece, which is a 40% on 2009.
Lanta Tour Voyage, the main focus for new destinations for this company is Latin America and South East Asia. Lanta Tour winter offer includes Cuba, Rio (Brazil), Cancun (Mexico) and the Dominican Republic. Lanta tour plans to use the newly established direct flights by Aeroflot and Transaero to Latin American For the region of SE Asia, Lanta tour plans to send 11,000 clients to Vietnam and increase volumes to Bali, Thailand and Goa.
Unex, a new Tour Operator started work in the Russian market, they aim to focus on focusing on France and the Emirates.