According to Irina Tyurina, the spokeswoman of the Russian Union of Travel Industry, the interest of Russian tourists in tours to France in the summer 2019 has significantly grown, tour operators reported about 10-40% increase in sales of tours compared to the same period last year. "Summer sales…

The world’s main tourist event –World Tourism Organization General Assembly was held during 09-13 September in Russia this year and tourism ministers and officials all over the world took part in it. There were 2150 participants from the travel industry from 138 countries in Saint-Petersburg. The…

The tour operator Intourist, a member of the Thomas Cook group, intends to get a large share on the Italian destination in the winter. For the first time, the company launches its own charter flight program to Italy for the winter season 2019/2020. The flights are planned from Moscow to Verona and…

The Deputy Director of Russia’s Federal Tourist Agency, Sergey Korneev, has hit out at Finland’s decision to tighten up the visa application process for Russian tourists, saying the new requirements could have negative consequences for tourism to Finland. In August, the Finnish government announced…

According to Anex Tour, the winter flight program of the tour operator to the Italian ski resorts will be carried out on the wings of Ural Airlines charter flights. For the first time, Anex Tour takes blocks of seats on these flights: Moscow - Verona: once a week, from 28.12.2019 till 28.03.2020 and Moscow…

The tour operator Russian Express announced the start of sales of New Year's five-day package tours to Finnish Lapland. The company took the blocks of seats on charters to Rovaniemi, near which is the residence of Santa Claus. 

According to the schedule, the direct charter flights of Ural…

Other countries of the Transcaucasus, Armenia and Azerbaijan, where tour operators saw a noticeable increase, benefited from the closure of Georgia for Russian tourists. Also, Turkey, the Black Sea coast of Russia and Abkhazia note an increase of the Russian tourist flow. This assessment was voiced…

VFS Global has become Hungary’s new visa operator in Russia, according to its official announcement of August 23. In particular, one visa center will be opened in each 64 Russian cities, the first 40 of them will begin work by the end of August. The operator plans to issue annually 60 000 visas in…

The press service of Oktyabrskaya Railway reports (branch of Russian Railways) that the passenger flow of high-speed trains Allegro from St. Petersburg to Helsinki in January-July 2019 increased by 16,6% compared to the same period last year - up to 316,3 thousand people. 

In July 2019,…

VFS Global company became a new Hungarian visa operator in Russia. The company is going to open visa centers in 64 cities of Russia. The first 40 of them will start operation till the end of August. The plan is daily to process 60 000 visa applications. For that purpose, the company should take off…

"The Georgian National Tourism Administration (NATG) shared statistics according to which 108 210 tourists from Russia visited the country in July 2019 instead of 127 060 in July last year. The number of Russian tourists who came to Georgia by railway (via Baku) increased by 85% compared to the same…

In the middle of last month, Anex Tour opened sales for the winter season in Spain and Andorra. Due to the low prices, the destination is in high demand at the stage of early sales.  

In Anex Tour, package holidays in Andorra in the winter season are based on Azur air charter flights from…

On August 1, a visa center of Lithuania was opened in Kaliningrad, which is serviced by VFS Global, according to the the press service of the company. Another Lithuanian visa center in the region will be opened in Sovetsk at the end of August this year. Visa centres apply a service fee (15.9 euros) additionally…

Intourist tour operator has launched sales of tours to Poland. “On the Russian market our experts have a number of reasons to see prospects for the Polish destination. There are extensive opportunities for broad recreation for affordable price. The beaches of the Baltic Sea, treatment in mineral springs,…

British hoteliers have said that this year the demand for expensive accommodation in England has increased from Russian tourists. Tour operators, working on the destination, confirm: tourists want more “premium” here. 

The Russian tourist flow to Britain is stable this year: both sightseeing…

Starting September 1, 2019, Finland will expand the list of documents required for the Russians to obtain a visa. This was reported by the Finnish Foreign Ministry on its website. To obtain a visa to Finland, the Russians will need to provide the same documents which are required to obtain Schengen…

Wizz Air UK announced two news services from its London Luton base to Moscow’s Vnukovo International Airport and Pulkovo Airport in St Petersburg. 

Flights on the Moscow route will launch on 1 October 2019 and operate daily. The St Petersburg route, on which Wizz Air UK will be the sole…

Despite stark warnings for Russian tourists from their home country about safety issues in Georgia, following anti-Russian protests in Tbilisi, visitors in the Caucasus country remain largely unfazed by the situation. 

The flare-up in relations began when Georgian protesters tried to storm…

Russia’s national carrier Aeroflot and two other airlines from the country have canceled several flights to and from Czech on Tuesday after the country’s Transport Ministry withdrew permits for the flights, the BBC in Russia reported.  The Russian airlines have limited air traffic between Prague and…