Compared to December, February shows a sharp increase in the share of tour sales to the UAE. The share of Egypt is growing, the share of sales of Russia and Thailand is stable.

Outbound tourism by the end of 2023 will recover by 86-89% compared to the pre-pandemic 2019 indicators. Nowadays, 41 countries around the world are available to Russians on direct flights.

Thailand could completely restore the volumes of Russian tourist flow lost during the pandemic and even slightly exceed them. Russia ranks fifth in terms of the number of tourists, and it is still the undisputed leader among non-Asian markets.

The tourist flow to St. Petersburg by the end of 2023 could amount to 9,4 million people, of which 574 thousand are foreigners. Thus, the increase in the share of foreign tourists will be 68% compared to 2022. Among non-CIS countries in terms of the number of trips to St. Petersburg, the TOP-5 includes China, Iran, Turkey, India and the UAE.

Turkey will account for a third of all Fun&Sun sales in 2024. In the second and third places in the list of the company’s key destinations are Egypt and the UAE.

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 popularity of digital solutions in the migration field is growing. There is also a noticeable growing demand for an electronic visa among foreign citizens to visit Russia.

The shares of destinations in December were distributed as follows: Egypt - 26%, UAE - 19%, Thailand - 18%, Turkey - 8% and Russia - 6%. Next in the list of interests among aggregator users are Sri Lanka and Cuba (5% each), the Maldives with 3%, India and Vietnam with 2%.

In December, tourists from Russia choose mainly 5* (53%) and 4* (43%) hotels in Egypt on all-inclusive basis. In Thailand, people mainly bought tours to 4* (49%) and 3* (36%) hotels. The share of sales of tours to 5* hotels is 14,5%.

The distribution of popular destinations is almost the same as last year. At the same time, travel prices have increased significantly over the year. Russian tourists want to celebrate the New Year with maximum comfort, so they began to pay more attention to the ultra all-inclusive food system.

In autumn of 2023 the tourist flow of Russians to the main foreign tourist destinations amounted to about 4,2 million trips, which was 34% more than in the same period in 2022. It is clarified that the main increase was achieved due to the expansion of the range of countries available for travel.

Based on the results of three quarters of 2023, Russia received 10 times fewer tourists than in the same period of pre-pandemic 2019. China has become the main supplier of tourists.

Over the three quarters of 2023, the outbound flow from Russia amounted to 21 020 012 people, which is 12,4% higher compared to the same period in 2022.

The most popular destinations where tourists and vacationers often book tours on the eve of the New Year are the UAE, Turkey, Thailand, Egypt and the Russian Federation. Sometimes Sri Lanka is included in the TOP of the most popular destinations.

In the summer of 2023, the organized outbound tourist flow from Russia increased by 15% compared to the same period in 2022.

The list of Southeast Asian destinations in demand among Russians for the upcoming high season is undergoing changes compared to last year. Thailand remains unshakably at the top of the top list, showing growth. But other leading countries' positions in the sales rankings are changing.

50% of Russians plan to travel in the regions of the Russian Federation during the New Year holidays, and 30% will go to Moscow and St. Petersburg. Another 15% choose warm countries for their New Year's holiday, such as Thailand, the UAE, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives.

The government has submitted to the State Duma a draft law on the suspension of a number of provisions of international treaties of the Russian Federation on simplifying the issuance of visas to citizens from a number of countries.

Host tour operators noted a surge of interest from Chinese tourists in traveling to Russia during the just completed “golden week”. Primorye is gradually returning to pre-pandemic indicators of incoming tourist flows. From January to June, the region received more than 1,1 million tourists, which is 13% more than in the same period last year.

Tour operators are recording an increase of demand for weekends in November. According to the estimates of tour operators, the demand for holiday weekend tours in November increased by 10-15% compared to last year.

A complete list of foreign airlines flying to Russia, as well as using Russian airspace, was presented by experts. Trends are as follows: there are only four European carriers, mostly Asia flies to and over Russia, primarily China and the Middle East.

Russians began to visit foreign countries for summer holidays more actively. From June 1 to August 30, the flow of Russian tourists traveling abroad increased by 17% compared to the same period in 2022.

Demand for sightseeing trips to Europe in the autumn increased by 10-15% compared to the same period last year, because tourists adapted to the new conditions and think over the trip in advance.

In September, Russian tourists rushed to unexpected foreign places, and among the rapidly growing destinations where demand has jumped at times are Southeast Asia and Europe, primarily Italy.

Most often in 2023, business travelers from Russia apply for visas to China. Moreover, the share of visas issued to the country amounted to 38% and turned out to be higher than the number of visas to all Schengen countries combined.