Flights and tourist traffic from Russia amidst pandemic (weekly update)

Russia and Japan have resumed flights suspended in the spring due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Aeroflot Airlines plans to resume regular flights to Belgrade and Tokyo.

Starting October 1, Japan may allow foreign nationals arriving for a period of three months or more. Tourists are not included in the list yet. However, the Russians do not lose hope to go to Japan at least next spring.

The tourist flow from Russia to Japan in January-February 2020 increased by 26,7% compared to the same period last year, amounting to 15 100 people.

Since March 23, Russia has introduced new time restrictions on flights to countries where cases of new coronavirus infection have been identified.

The demand for Japan from Russian tourists has been steadily growing in recent years. This year the trend will continue due to lower prices for tours. This will be connected with an increase of the intensity of flights and an expansion of the geography of flights.

The number of Russians who crossed the Japanese border in 2019 increased by 26,6% compared to the same period last year and amounted to 120 000 people.

Aeroflot airline will begin to fly from Moscow to Osaka from June 1, 2020. The flights will be operated four times a week.

The tourist flow from Russia to Japan continues to grow: in January - November 2019, the country was visited by more than 111 thousand Russians.

A large federal player entered the Japanese market due to the growing popularity of this country among Russian tourists.

Mutual tourist flow between Russia and Japan will reach at least 400 thousand by 2023, 200 thousand travelers from each side.

According to the Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO), for the nine months of 2019 83 700 Russians visited Japan, which is 22,2% more than in the same period of 2018. The growth of Russian tourist flow in September is almost 40%.

Japan Airlines (JAL) will begin direct regular flights from Tokyo to Vladivostok in the spring of 2020. The airline will operate daily flights to Tokyo using Boeing-737-800 with a capacity of about 150 people

The tour operator Ics Travel Group has opened sales of package tours to Japan. In September, a tour to Japan will cost for Russians from 146 thousand Rubles (2 021 Euros) for two persons with flight.

Russian and Japanese tour operators and tourism authorities are joining efforts to increase the number of yearly visits to the Southern Kuril Islands of Kunashir and Iturup, BigAsia.ru reported citing the Russian Federal Tourism Agency (Rosturizm). 

Visa regime for visiting Japan will be made easier for Russian businessmen and students in autumn, the Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said. "Since September this year, Japan plans to ease the visa regime for Russian businessmen as part of an eight-point cooperation plan to further encourage bilateral contacts. This is a special measure for Russia," he underlined at a press conference following the Russian-Japanese summit talks. 

Every year Japan becomes more and more attractive for Russians. And if earlier the demand intensified in the spring months, during the flowering of sakura, and in autumn, when the season of the “red maples” begins, now the tourists have tasted summer Japan.  

Japan continues to show a significant increase in tourist flow from Russia. In January-March 2019, 23,600 Russians arrived in Japan against 19,542 a year earlier. March month has broken all the records.   The number of Russians who crossed the border of Japan in March 2019 increased by 31.2% compared to the same period last year and amounted to 11,700 people (against 8,916 people in March 2018), reports the Moscow office of the Japan National Tourist Organization (JNTO) . 

The leading Japanese airline All Nippon Airways (ANA) plans to enter the Russian market in 2019. Aeroflot will have a strong competitor on the destination. Meanwhile, Russian tour operators are waiting for further growth in demand for Japan in 2019. ANA made a strategic decision to enter Russian routes in the coming months.

According to the latest statistics of Japanese National Tourist Organization (JNTO), 88,6 thousand tourists from Russia visit Japan over 11 months, which is 23.8% more than in this period in 2017. JNTO also notes a record total incoming flow to Japan - 30 million tourists since 2018. In 2017, Japan was visited by 28,690,000 visitors from different countries.

The number of tourists to Japan from Russia grew by 34%. At the same time, experts say that the reason for growth is the decline in prices for flights, as well as the year of cross-tourism in Russia and Japan, which increased the demand for trips to the country of the rising sun. According to the OneTwoTrip travel service, in 2018 the Russians began to fly to Japan more often: 34% more tickets were bought in comparison with 2017.

Russian tourist flow to Japan continues to show double-digit growth. During the first three quarters of 2018, 68,500 citizens of the Russian Federation visited this country, which is 26% more than in the same period last year.