How many Russians went to the exotic islands of the Indian Ocean in 2017

Expensive “island exotica" is a demanded segment of rest for premium and VIP tourists in Russia. Totally in 2017 86,275 tourists from Russian Federation visited three premium exotic destinations of the Indian Ocean. The greatest increase of the tourist flow from Russia was demonstrated by Maldives, Mauritius and Seychelles. Maldives remains the most popular destination among the "expensive island exotics" in Russia. According to the Ministry of Tourism of the Republic of Maldives, in 2017 61,931 tourists from Russian Federation arrived to the country. In 2016 the number of our tourists was less by 33,1% (46,522 tourists). According to the online aggregator Sletat.ru, the average price of a tour to Maldives for 2 adults, for 11 nights in 2017 was 242 785 Rubles ($ 4317). Seychelles, according to the National Bureau of Statistics of this country, were visited in 2017 by 13,191 tourists from Russia. This is 15% more than in 2016 and 8% more than in 2015. Russia is on the eighth line of the TOP-10 of incoming markets for Seychelles. In 2017 the demand for tour packages to Seychelles, according to tour operator companies, showed a slight increase against the level of 2016. Mauritius in 2017 showed a significant growth, coming closely to the Seychelles According to the Chamber of Statistics of the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development of Mauritius, 11,153 tourists from Russia arrived on the island in 2017. This is 20% more than the volume of the tourist arrivals from Russia to this island in 2016.