Half of business tourists now travel to China instead of the US and UK

The interest of Russian business structures in issuing foreign visas is being restored: by the end of 2023, business tourism operators recorded a twofold increase in demand. More than half of the requests, as expected, came from China. At the same time, the proportion of refusals to issue UK and US visas is also expectedly growing.

The demand of Russian business for visas from foreign countries at the end of 2023 increased by 85% year-on-year, Aeroclub calculated. Vipservice is talking about double growth, and Trivio is talking about fivefold growth. The Raketa platform recorded a 2.2-fold increase in demand over the year. However, according to Aeroclub data, the activity of applicants was still 69% lower than in pre-crisis 2019. Analysts attribute the overall growing demand to additional business needs for networking.

The pronounced positive trend is largely dictated by the growth in traffic on Asian routes.

China accounted for 58% of business visas in 2023, Aeroclub says. Compared to pre-crisis 2019, their number increased by 43%.

“Obtaining a visa to China takes three to four days, and the consular fee has also decreased,” says Andrey Baturin, director of the Trivio marketing department. In addition to China, the head of the visa department at Vipservice, Pavel Safronov, names an increase in demand for business visas to India, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Kenya.

Schengen countries, according to Aeroclub, account for 34% of business tourist visas, while in 2022 it was 68%. France remains the main destination, although interest in it decreased by 16% year-on-year. In the case of Italy, analysts note an increase of 11%, Austria – by 63%, Spain – by 22%, Hungary – by 68%. Andrey Baturin notes the difficult situation with obtaining Schengen visas. At the same time, Managing Director of Aeroclub Yulia Lipatova notes that you can freely sign up to obtain visas for Greece and Hungary. The cost of registration in each case is about €100, the processing time varies from 15 to 45 days.

Executive Director of Visakhod Daniil Sergeev associates the simplification of the registration process not with a change in the operating procedure of visa centers, but with the adaptation of the market. The excitement has subsided, applicants and agents have become clearer about the reasons for refusal and the principles for issuing visas, he lists. Tourists who literally follow the requirements, according to Mr. Sergeev, practically do not receive refusals. Before the geopolitical aggravation, the rules for issuing visas were more loyal, the expert says.

Andrey Baturin believes that difficulties with obtaining visas continue to hamper demand for travel to the UK and the USA.

Daniil Sergeev says that the UK has indeed begun to refuse visas to applicants more often, but unlike the Schengen countries, the reasons for the decision are always given. Most often, according to the expert, this is due to non-compliance with requirements.

According to the US State Department, Russians from October 1, 2022 to September 30, 2023 (US fiscal year) received 39.5% of B1/B2 visa refusals. Industry publication Tourdom noted that the figure is higher than the same value for the previous two years – 26.2% and 29.5%.

Although in physical terms the number of approved US visas has increased year on year, notes Daniil Sergeev.

The expert associates the worsening statistics on refusals with the growing number of applicants expecting to receive visas for emigration purposes, and the circumstances forcing them to apply in third countries. “In many of them, for example in Kazakhstan, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan, there are, in principle, a large number of refusals even for local residents,” he notes.

Yulia Lipatova expects that the demand for visas from business tourists will continue to grow this year, in particular to China. Andrey Baturin expects a general increase in demand for visa support in European destinations. He is confident that there will be more requests for Schengen visas in 2024.

Alexandra Mertsalova