Russian tourists are increasingly interested in European tours, despite the cancellation of direct flights, price increases and the need of connections. The number of bookings of tours to Europe by Russian citizens has increased significantly compared to last year.
Thus, Anatoly Garkushin, general director of the tour operator Pantheon, noted: “Booking of tours to Europe for the summer months exceeded the same period last year by 10 times. People are tired of Turkey.” We are talking primarily about Greece, Italy, Spain, Montenegro, Portugal and Cyprus.
The figures of booked tours testify that the alternative holiday options in Europe show attractiveness for Russian tourists. Moreover, Russians are now not afraid of long connections which are necessary in the conditions of the closed European sky for domestic aircraft. At present, tourists from the Russian Federation fly to European countries not only via Istanbul and Dubai, but also via Kuwait, Casablanca and Bahrain.
The list of 14 countries that continue to issue tourist visas to Russian citizens includes Austria, Hungary, Germany, Greece, Spain, Italy, Malta, Norway, Portugal, Slovenia, Croatia, France, Sweden and Switzerland.
In September 2022, the European Council had abolished the simplified visa regime between Russia and the EU, thereby complicating the issuance of permits for Russians to enter Europe or completely closing this opportunity. Against this background, the following 11 countries stopped issuing new tourist visas, these are Belgium, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Finland, Poland, Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Slovakia and Iceland.
