JULY 2017
RUSSIAN OUTBOUND TOURISM MARKET SHORT NEWS
EU approved visa-free travel for Ukrainian citizens to Schengen countries as of 11 June 2017 which created an increase in travel to European destinations over the summer season.
According to a recent analysis Premier 2017 conducted by Ipsos Comcon company, more than two-thirds of the wealthy Russian tourists, who traveled abroad in the past 12 months, used the services of travel companies.
UAE: Emirates Airlines will upgrade its both daily flights between Dubai and Moscow to Airbus A380 as of 1st October 2017. Each flight offers 14 first class personal cabins, 76 business class seats and 427 economy class seats.
Greece: As per ATOR, from January to April 2017, the number of visas issued by Greece to Russian citizens increase by 71% compared to same period in 2016. However, for same periods, the number of Russian visitors decreased by 4.9% and revenues by 1.4%
Portugal: Aeroflot launched 3 weekly direct flights from Moscow to Lisbon on 15 July 2017.
Qatar-Ukraine: Qatar Airways announced the launch of direct daily flights between Doha and Kiev as of 28 August 2017. The market is expecting a good demand to Indian Ocean and South East Asian routes and destinations.
Crete: The number of Russians that visited Crete in June 2017 increased by 16% compared to 2016, reaching approx 70.000 visitors.
Europe: The European Tourism Commission predicted the Russian tourist flow to Europe to growth at least 4% annually in 2016-2020.
Cambodia: from January to April 2017, 28 430 Russian tourists visited Cambodia which is 19.5% higher than same period in 2016. Russian Tour Operators believe that there is a higher potential for growth if there were regular direct flights (not charters) and better infrastructure.
Qatar-Russia: Qatar Airways is launching a third daily flight between Doha and Moscow as of 2 August 2017.
Germany: As per the German Embassy in Moscow, the number of visa requests from Russia to Germany increase by 20% from January to June 2017 in comparison to the same period in 2016
