To Russia with caution – Kommersant

Due to the general trend towards a gradual recovery after the pandemic of international tourism, the flow of foreign travelers to Russia in the first quarter of 2023 increased by 17% year-on-year. But the country still receives less than 15% of the pre-crisis tourist flow. Citizens of Turkey, China, Iran and India are ready to travel to Russia. Tourist trips of the Russians themselves abroad, despite the current restrictions, are recovering much faster.

In the first quarter of this year, foreign citizens made a total of 3.27 million trips to Russia, of which 67.7 thousand were for the purpose of tourism, follows from the data of the FSB border service. This is more year on year by 17.6% and 17.3% respectively. From the indicator of the pre-pandemic 2019, the total number of inbound trips for the first quarter lags behind by 48.9%, for the purpose of tourism – by 85.6%.

Sergey Romashkin, the general director of the Dolphin tour operator, assumes that similar dynamics will continue in the upcoming summer season: the incoming flow will recover only by 10-15% of the pre-crisis volume. In his opinion, the inbound tourist flow will be formed mainly by tourists from China, Turkey, India, Iran. “Russia is in the general trend of gradual recovery after the pandemic of international tourism, but the activity of travelers is significantly constrained by the geopolitical background, the lack of decisions on group visa-free exchange, and difficulties with the work of cards of international payment systems in the country,” explains Mr. Romashkin.

The leaders in the number of inbound trips to Russia for tourism purposes in the first quarter were Turkish citizens who made 10.1 thousand such visits, which is twice as much year on year. This trend coincided with the easing of the visa regime. Since March 5, 2023, citizens of 19 countries, including Turkey, have been able to apply for visas for six months with a hotel reservation.

In second place are Chinese citizens who made 6.2 thousand trips to the Russian Federation. A year ago, there was actually a zero base, but in the first quarter of 2019, 163.4 thousand tourists from China visited the country. In the third place in terms of the number of tourists who arrived in Russia in the first quarter were German citizens who made 5.1 thousand visits. But this is 23.8% lower year-on-year and 4.6 times behind the level of the beginning of 2019. Ivashkevich Hospitality Managing Partner Stanislav Ivashkevich sees a 20% year-on-year increase in the number of foreign guests in hotels. Mostly guests come from Turkey, Iran, the United Arab Emirates and the Middle East.

At the same time, according to the estimates of the FSB border service, Russians in the first quarter made a total of 4.9 million trips abroad, of which 1.7 million were for the purpose of tourism. Relative to the same period last year, the figures increased by 26.6% and 46.8%, respectively. From the first quarter of pre-pandemic 2019, the values ​​lag behind by 41.6% and 37.6%, respectively. Vice-President of the Russian Union of Travel Industry Dmitry Gorin expects that the organized tourist flow abroad this year will increase by 22-24% year-on-year. “But you need to understand that last year was extremely heterogeneous: we saw a relatively good first quarter, a virtually zero second quarter, and a subsequent recovery in outbound tourist traffic,” he argues.

For Russians, the most demanded exit destination, based on the data of the FSB border service, excluding the post-Soviet states, was Turkey. In the first quarter, Russians made 653.4 thousand tourist trips to this country, which is 76.1% more year-on-year and 81.2% compared to the same period in 2019. In the UAE, Russians made 492.8 thousand trips – an increase of 87% and 51.4%, respectively.

Thailand also managed to show good dynamics, where Russians went 410.8 thousand times in the first quarter. Relative to the indicator of 2022, the values ​​increased by more than ten times, but the gap from the indicators of 2019 is 20.2%. It is these areas, according to Mr. Gorin’s forecasts, that will become points of growth for the whole of 2023. In general, the limiting factors for the outbound market, according to him, are the decrease in the availability of some destinations, the overall increase in the cost of travel and the complexity of logistics in many directions.

Alexandra Mertsalova