One third less Russian tourists to Europe in the first quarter of 2015

Arrivals from Russia to Europe in the first quarter of 2015 decreased by 30% compared to the same period of the last year, the European Commission on Tourism said.

According to the report, most of the European destinations missed Russian tourists. The only exception was Montenegro and Romania. The experts associated the reducing the number of arrivals and overnight stays of Russian tourists with difficult geopolitical and economic situation.

The report also noted that Russia remains one of the key markets in Europe. In the coming months it will become clear whether the the flow of tourists from the Russian Federation to Europe will be stabilized. European Commission experts suggested that, most likely, it will continue to drop due to fluctuations in the ruble exchange rate, oil prices and difficult political situation.

At the same time, despite the drop in tourist flow from Russia, most European destinations have positive results for three months in 2015. According to experts, the depreciation of the euro led to increased number of tourists from the United States.

The most significant increase in the number of international arrivals in the first quarter was in Iceland (+ 31.4%), Croatia (+ 24.6%), Montenegro (+ 23.2%), Romania (+ 13.1%), Hungary ( + 12.1%), Slovenia (+ 11.7%), Austria (+ 11.4%) and Serbia (11%).