Turkey will again be the number one destination for Russian tourists this summer, the Association of Tour Operators in Russia (ATOR) has said, according to Interfax. Russian tourists have again decided in favor of Turkey for their vacations, which is seen by a 10%-15% rise in demand for Turkish tourist packages compared to the same period last year, the business association said. 

The Association of Tour Operators of Russia (ATOR) named Russian tour operators leading in terms of the number of tourists sent to Turkey. In total, these companies served 4.7 million Russian citizens in the country in 2018. “The leader among tour operators in terms of the number of tourists sent to Turkey in 2018 was Coral Travel (with Sunmar sub-brand).

According to ATOR, 70,935 Russian tourists visited the Maldives in 2018, which is 14.5% more than in the previous year, when 61,931 tourists rested on the islands. In general, foreign tourists flow to the Maldives grew by 6.8% for 2018. Most often, tourists from China rested in the country.

Thailand is the most popular foreign destination for the Russian travelers this New Year festive season, the Russian Association of Tour Operators (ATOR) has said. Among the domestic destination Sochi turned out as the most popular winter resort, the tourism industry Association revealed. 

“The return of Turkey did not reduce the flow to the other foreign resorts, but led to a decrease in demand for the Black Sea resorts”, - said the Chief Executive of the Association of Tour Operators of Russia (ATOR) Maya Lomidze.

Popular movies directly affect the choice of trip destination. For example, after run of The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, the requests of Russians for hotels and flights to Iceland (where the main character performed by Ben Stiller) increased almost double. It is written in the report of Association of Tour Operators of Russia (ATOR).