More than 2,7 million Russians traveled abroad in 2020, which is 77% less than a year earlier, said Maya Lomidze, executive director of the Association of Tour Operators of Russia (ATOR).
"At the end of 2020, the total volume of tourists who left Russia abroad amounted to 2,753 million, this including the first quarter of 2020, when the flow was quite active. The decrease is 77%, compared to 2019. In 2019, more than 20 million tourists went abroad, 12 million of them were group tourists," she said at a press conference.
Lomidze noted that outbound tourism this year was represented by only five destinations, since a number of countries (with which Russia has resumed air traffic) did not accept travelers (Japan, South Korea, Switzerland, Austria, Great Britain).
At the same time, against 2019, a drop in tourist traffic occurred in all destinations. Exceptions are Tanzania, which broke all the records and the Maldives, which showed a relatively good result.
The TOP-5 destinations of 2020 includes Turkey (a 77% drop in flow from the Russian Federation compared to last year), the UAE (-61,4%), Cuba (-67,5%), the Maldives (-38%) and Tanzania (an increase of 5,3 times).
According to Lomidze, a more significant drop in flow occurred in the sector of inbound tourism.
"If in outbound tourism there were at least some opportunities to serve tourists, in inbound tourism there were no such opportunities, and they are unlikely to appear in the coming months. The decrease in volume is 93,6%. We can talk about some noticeable flow only for the first quarter ", - added the expert.
