TOURISM IN 2018: WHERE ARE RUSSIANS TRAVELLING?

After a bumper year for the Russian outbound travel market in 2017 – seeing an impressive 25% increase in foreign trips – we take a look at the figures for the first six months of 2018

From 1 January – 30 June, Russian citizens made 18,646,000 outbound trips – 9% more than the same period in 2017, according to the Russian State Statistics Service Rosstat. This figure was 17,119,000 in the first six months of 2017, with the total for 2017 reaching 39,629,000.

Where are Russian tourists travelling to?

The top destinations for Russian tourists in the first half of 2018 were:

• Turkey – 2,281,000 (+40%)
• Finland – 1,559,000 (+1%)
• Kazakhstan – 1,287,000 (+1%)
• Ukraine – 1,074,000 (+8%)
• China – 908,000 (-4%)
• Thailand – 679,000 (+18%)
• Estonia – 858,000 (+5%)
• Germany – 591,000 (+4%)
• UAE – 545,000 (+52%)

Turkey has remained the firm favourite for Russian tourists following its return to the market last year.

Other key destinations included Poland – 532,000, Italy – 498,000, Georgia – 483,000, Spain – 406,000, Azerbaijan – 349,000, Cyprus – 325,000, Greece – 300,000, Lithuania – 288,000, Vietnam – 281,000, the Czech Republic – 250,000, France – 229,000, and Tunisia – 219,000.

Destinations showing the highest year-on-year growth include:

Portugal – 30,000 (+88%), Qatar – 66,000 (+74%), Hungary – 80,000 (+57%), UAE – 545,000 (+52%), Tunisia – 219,000 (+50%), Turkey – 2,281,000 (+40%), Jordan – 27,000 (+25%), Cuba – 50,000 (+28%), Mongolia – 46,000 (+28%), Maldives – 19,000 (+27%), and Georgia – 483,000 (+26%).

Trips to the EU rose, with the most popular destinations in the Schengen region Italy 498,000 (+20%), Czech Republic 250,000 (+5.4%), Spain 406,000 (+5%), and France 229,000.

Ski tourism to Austria rose 8% in the first half of 2018, reaching 124,000 trips. Baltic countries also welcomed more Russian tourists: Estonia – 858,000 (+5%), Lithuania – 288,000 (+1%), and Latvia – 185,000 (+7%).

Attract more Russian tourists to you at MITT

Interested in attracting more Russian tourists to your destination or travel service company?

MITT, Russia’s leading travel and tourism exhibition, is the best place to meet the industry and grow your brand awareness on this promising market.

Enquire today for more information on how exhibiting at MITT can help you.

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