Russian travelers are looking for new holiday destinations instead of Europe, despite the fact that after the start of the special operation in Ukraine, the EU imposed restrictions on the travel of our tourists to the countries of the Old World, and some states even imposed a direct ban on the entry.
However, the sanctions did not deprive Russians of the opportunity to travel: new markets around the world have opened up for the Russian tourism sector.
After the introduction of anti-Russian sanctions, it became much more difficult for Russians to travel to popular tourist destinations in the European Union. Obtaining a tourist visa has become expensive and difficult, Russian air carriers have been banned from flying over and into the EU.
However, millions of Russians still continue to travel abroad. Turkey remaining the main destination. And Russian vacationers are now in record numbers making their way not to Europe, but to non-Western destinations.
With travel restrictions in Europe, Russian tourists are finding new destinations for their trips. Some of the most popular destinations attracting Russian holidaymakers include Thailand, UAE, Turkey, Maldives and Egypt.
Last year, the island of Bali became especially attractive for travelers from the Russian Federation. The statistics speak for themselves: the number of visitors from Russia has increased and reached 22,500 in January 2023, placing the Russians in the second place in the ranking of incoming markets on the island after the Australians.
Sri Lanka, Morocco and Thailand plans to open direct flights with Russia to facilitate travel, and India, Myanmar and Oman recently held talks with Russia to discuss increasing tourist traffic.
Iran signed an agreement with Russia on mutual cooperation in the field of tourism, and a few days earlier, Cuba signed an agreement on the development of tourism, aimed at increasing the number of tourists from Russia to 500 thousand a year.
However, in Cyprus and Greece there is a shortage of Russian tourists, who usually make up a significant part of the total number of visitors. This has had an impact on the economies of these countries and led to a rethinking of tourism models.
