Tour operators report that news about the possible opening of Egypt has not influenced on sales of tours to the resorts in Thailand. Among the largest players on the destination the volume of early booking tours to Thailand for the winter season already exceeds the last year’s one by tens of percent.

This is 26% higher than last year's result. This forecast was presented by the Ministry of Tourism and Sports of this country. According to the latest statistics, over the first eight months of this year Thailand has already been visited by 950.8 thousand tourists from Russia.

In large networks of travel agencies note a decrease in the volume of realization of tours to Thailand on New Year's dates. As Elina Zeveleva, head of the financial settlements centre of MGP retails, told, according to the agencies of her company for the period from the beginning of the year till September 25.

The average price for round flight Moscow - Bangkok for the New Year dates increased by 24%. Last year the cost of air tickets for January 1-10 was at the level of 27,245 Rubles ($ 414) and this year is 33,964 Rubles ($ 515) (for one person).

In Thailand the low season continues, but the Russian tourist flow step by step is moving closer to the mark of 1 million people who came to rest in this country. According to the report of the Ministry of Tourism and Sports of Thailand, for seven months of 2018 the country hosted 900,700 citizens of Russia, which is 16.24% higher than for the same period of 2017.

Tour operators plan to increase their flight programs to Thailand. Almost all leading tour operators declared that their volumes are higher than in the winter season last year. PEGAS Touristik plans to fly to Bangkok from 33 cities of Russia (last year - from 21 cities), from Moscow - 4 times a week.

Thailand remains the leader of booking tours for the winter season, tour operators forecast sales growth from 5 to 20% in comparison with the last year. The weakening of the ruble and increased competition with other exotic destinations can correct the growth rate, but only the opening of Egypt is capable to seriously affect sales of this direction.

The flow of tourists from Russia to Thailand for the first six months of this year was about 851 thousand people, exceeding the figure of the same period of the previous year by 18.3%. In total, from the beginning of the year Russian tourists brought Thailand about 67.9 billion baht, which is 19.6% higher than last year's figure.

The Ministry of Tourism and Sports of Thailand published official data concerning the tourist flow from abroad in January-April 2018. According to the department's report, in January-April the Kingdom has hosted 745,398 citizens from Russia, which is more than half of the total tourist flow to Thailand from Russian Federation in 2017 (1.356 million people).

“The tourist flow from Russia to Thailand in April 2018 increased by 19% in comparison with the same month of the last year”, said the Ministry of Sport and Tourism of Thailand. In April the country was visited by 126.4 thousand Russians, which is 19% more than for the same month a year earlier.

For the period from January 1 to March 31, 2018 more than 303 thousand Russian citizens visited the resort island of Phuket in Thailand. It is a 47% increase in comparison with the same period of the previous year. The corresponding information was published by the consulting company C9 Hotelworks.

The foreign tourist flow to Thailand by the end of 2017 reached 35.38 million people and 1.34 million of these numbers were visitors from Russia. Although this figure is below the maximum of pre-crisis indicators this is the best result for the last three years. The Ministry of Tourism and Sports of the country published appropriate preliminary data before the New Year holidays. The document also contains a forecast for the next year, based on the data for the period from January 1 to December 23, 2017 and previous years' experience.

“Almost 55 thousand Russian tourists visited Thailand in August 2017, which is 3.3% more than in the same month a year earlier”, - according to the report of the country's Ministry of Tourism. According to the agency, in August 3.13 million foreigners visited Thailand or 8.7% more than in the same period of the last year, and they spent 11.7% more money in the country.

“The flow of tourists from Russia to Thailand from January to July this year increased by almost a third, reaching a mark of 800 thousand people”, - said Russian Ambassador to Thailand Kyril Barsky. "Over the seven months of this year the number of tourists increased by 29%, reaching almost 800 thousand people.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov noted a significant increase of the tourists flow from Russia to Thailand, the indicators may soon reach a record level. "Speaking of tourism, we are pleased to note that this year in the first five months the number of Russians who have visited Thailand has increased by 37%", - Lavrov said after meeting with Thailand's Foreign Minister Don Pramavinay.

Noting the fact that Thailand in the eyes of the Russian tourist is increasingly becoming an all-season destination, the tour operators this summer are confirming a change in the geography of demand. In these summer months noticeable decline is shown by only Phuket resorts.

“The tourist flow from Russia to Thailand can amount 1.5 million people this year, exceeding the pre-crisis indicators”, - said Executive Director of the Association of Tour Operators of Russia (ATOR) Maya Lomidze. "Among Russians Asian countries are in great demand and, according to preliminary estimates, Thailand can reach the number of 1.5 million tourists from Russia, which is a very good indicator, because before the crisis in 2014 there were about 1 million.

According to the results of the first quarter of 2017, Thailand was visited by almost 489 thousand tourists from Russia. Thus, the Russians took the third place in the list of fans of Thai resorts. These data are based on the statistics of the Immigration Bureau of the country, which monitors the passage of foreigners through the border control points.

“In 2016 Phuket was visited by in 1.5 times more Russian tourists, than a year earlier”, - reports Phuket Gazette with reference to the study of the expert group C9 Hotelworks. The Russian flow to Phuket increased by 51% for the year. According to the publication, more than 50% of all tourists, arriving the country from Russia are heading to Phuket.

“Airline company Thai Airways resumed flights from the capital airport "Domodedovo" to airport of Bangkok Suwanabhumi International on Thursday”, - reported the correspondent of the portal "Interfax-Tourism". The company will fly to Moscow four times a week. "We have returned back on the route with a frequency of four flights per week.

“Thailand in October 2016 was visited by 90,8 thousand Russian tourists, which is 30.3% higher than a year earlier”, - according to statistics published on the website of the Thailand Ministry of Tourism and Sports. If in October a year earlier, the country was visited by 69.7 thousand Russians, this year their number reached 90.8 thousand.

The number of Russian tourists visiting this country becomes more and more higher, but their spending have decreased. “During 10 months of 2016 Russians spent in Thailand 64.3 billion baht ($ 1.8 billion)”, - said the Thailand Tourist Department on Friday November 25. It should be noted, that for the period from January to October the spending of the Russian tourist have amounted the number comparable with the level of expenditure of 2015 (68.7 billion baht or 1.96 billion dollars).

This winter Thailand can become a major destination for Russian tourists, who will celebrate the New Year abroad. 28% of all NY oversea tours were sold to the resorts of this country. This is an evidenced of statistics based on data of Level.Travel service, which is selling online tours of more than 20 tour operators to 35 countries and with departing from 46 Russian cities.

“Thailand's Cabinet of Ministers approved an increase of the number of flights between Russia and Thailand in order to increase the tourist flow”, - the newspaper Bangkok Post reported. The number of flights of Russian airlines to Bangkok can now be increased from 70 to 105 per week and flights to Phuket - up to 56 flights a week.

Following the results by the end of the first week of November, Thailand is the leader in sales of New Year tours. This follows from the data provided by the travel agencies networks to the professional portal “TourDom.ru”. It may be noted, that a year earlier, in November 2015, the majority of retailers named Russia as the most popular destination for New Year's date.