The number of applications for visas by Russian citizens fell by 37%

For the year, the number of applications for visas of Russians to foreign countries fell by 37%, the press service of Visa To Home, citing data from visa centers, reported. The company noted that the compared the number of applications submitted from 1 September 2014 to 31 August 2015 with the period from 1 September 2013 to 31 August 2014. If in 2013-2014 there were 4.1 million foreign visas issued fro Russians, in 2014-2015, there were only 2.6 million visas. The biggest - 64% - drop in demand for visas is to Bulgaria (from 131.8 thousand to 48 thousand visas). "The current economic situation in the country, of course, first of all reflected on the people of the older generation. This explains such dynamics apply for visas in Bulgaria, which has always been a favorite of seniors due to the low cost of trips and lack of language barrier," the company explained . Greece is on the second place by percentage, where the demand for visas is 48% less (decrease from 808.2 thousand to 421.9 thousand visas). The third place is taken by Norway, where the demand for visas has fallen by 47% (from 40.1 thousand to 21.4 thousand). In absolute terms, Finlandt has he biggest lost, since in the period from 1 September 2013 to 31 August 2014 the government issued 1.2 million visas, and a year later -only 745.8 thousand. The drop in demand was 38%. At the same time the Finnish visa remains the most popular, primarily due to the residents of the Northwest Federal District. Demand for Spanish visas fell by 33%, the French - by 37%, Portugal - by 35%, Czech - by 38%. The smallest fall in demand for visas is observed in Germany (-21%), Belgium (-16%), Poland (-15%) and Estonia (-13%). As explained in Visa To Home, Germany is considered to be primarily a business destination, so the crisis of the Russian tourist market affected it only slightly. A relatively stable flow of Poland and Estonia have provided the inhabitants of border regions of Russia. The only European country to increase the number of issued visas, became Slovenia. The increase amounted to 137%, from 4.3 thousand to 10.3 thousand visas. According to Rosstat, in the first half of 2015 the total number of Russians traveled abroad decreased by 24% to 16.4 million trips, among them traveled with tourism purposes - by 33.8% to 5.4 million trips.