Italy has become the most popular country in Europe among tourists for the New Year

Europe remains a popular destination for Russian tourists for the New Year holidays. Italy and France are the most popular on the continent, the press service of the Russian Union of Tourism Industry (RST) reported.

“The flow of tourists to Europe is primarily hampered by the complexity of obtaining visas, as well as expensive connecting flights. The only direct flight to the continent is operated by Air Serbia, but the prices are astronomical. Two weeks ago a ticket for holiday dates cost up to $ 2 222 in economy class,” said Svetlana Krechkina, deputy director of the Vand company. According to her, tourists mainly request Italy, France, Spain, and Portugal.

Intourist offers mainly Italy among the excursion destinations in Europe. Sometimes the tour is combined with a visit to France, Belgium, Holland, Germany, and Switzerland. Tourists request the company for the New Year itself and post-New Year dates, but there are not many bookings. “Italian classic tours, Rome – Venice or Rome – Milan, are the best in selling,” said PR Director Daria Domostroeva.

As per PR Director of Tez Tour Zhanna Bogacheva, by the beginning of December the volume of booked tours for the New Year holidays was 1,5 times higher than last year.

The Russian Express company mentioned single bookings of European countries during the New Year holidays. The operator offers a small number of excursion programs in Serbia, Hungary, and Italy. “Not as many excursion tours to Europe are booked as we would like. Mostly, people go there on tours with individual service. As a rule, in winter these are ski resorts and luxury hotels in big cities,” said Anna Filatovskaya, director of the advertising and PR department.