Against the backdrop of a general trend towards the recovery of tourism after the coronavirus pandemic, the flow of tourists to Russia increased by 17% in the first quarter of 2023. In this respect writer “Kommersant”, which refers to the data of the border service of the FSB.
In the first quarter of this year, foreign nationals made a total of 3.27 million trips to Russia, 67.7 thousand of which were for tourism purposes. This is 17.6% and 17.3% higher, respectively, year over year. According to the pre-pandemic 2019 indicator, the total number of inbound trips for the first quarter lags behind by 48.9%, for tourism purposes – 85.6%.
Market experts agree that this situation will continue in the summer season, that is, the flow of tourists can only recover at 10-15% of pre-pandemic indicators. At the same time, the main tourist flow will be tourists from China, Turkey, India and Iran.
At the same time, Russians made 4.9 million international trips in the first quarter, 1.7 million of which were for tourism purposes. Compared to the same period of 2022, the figures increased by 26.6% and 46.8%, respectively. Analysts calculated that the Russians visited Turkey the most in the first quarter (653.4 thousand tours), while the United Arab Emirates (492.8 thousand tours) came in second place. Thailand closes the top three with 410.8 thousand tourist trips. Therefore, these areas are highly likely to be the growth points of the market this year.
Earlier on Thursday, tourism expert Alexander Bandurin, professor at the University of Finance declarationFor a more economical holiday in Turkey, it is better for Russians to go on tours rather than rent an apartment on their own and fly to the country. According to him, this will save on flights, transfers and accommodation.