How many Russians could travel abroad in 2020?
More than 2.7 million Russians made foreign trips in 2020, which is 77% less than a year earlier.
This was announced by the Executive Director of the Association of tour operators of Russia (ATOR) Maya Lomidze.
At the end of 2020, the total volume of tourists who left Russia abroad amounted to 2.753 million – this includes the first quarter of 2020, when the flow was quite active. The decrease compared to 2019 is 77%. In 2019, more than 20 million tourists went abroad, of which 12 million were organized.
In 2020, outbound tourism was represented by only five destinations, since the states with which Russia resumed air traffic did not accept travelers (Japan, South Korea, Switzerland, Austria, Great Britain).
The drop in tourist traffic compared to 2019 was noted in all destinations, except for Tanzania, which is breaking records. Not a bad result for the Maldives.
The top 5 destinations of 2020 include Turkey (Flow from Russia by 77% compared to 2019), UAE (-61.4%), Cuba (-67.5%), Maldives (-38%), Tanzania (a 5.3-fold increase).
According to Lomidze, a significant drop in flows took place in inbound tourism.
“If there were at least some opportunities to serve tourists in outbound tourism, there were no such opportunities in the entry, and they are unlikely to appear in the coming months. The decrease in volume was 93.6%. Only in the first quarter can there be any noticeable flow.”
Lomidze stressed that since the year is not over, there may be an error of no more than 3-5% in the calculation of the annual tourist flow, but it will not affect the situation.
Source: tourism.interfax