Tour operators note the growing interest of Russians in traveling to European countries, despite the lack of direct flights. He told the newspaper “Izvestia” Dmitry Gorin, Vice President of the Russian Travel Industry Association (PCT).
He noted that in 2022, more than 680,000 Russians received Schengen.
“We are talking about 17 countries that have issued documents. “Italy, Spain, Greece, France, Austria and Hungary are among the countries that are popular with Russian tourists in Europe,” he said.
Also, according to him, the popularity of trips to Israel is noted due to the presence of direct flights with Russia.
Since September 2022, six EU countries – Poland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Finland, Czech Republic – have banned Russians from entering the EU’s external border for tourism purposes. These countries, as well as Belgium, the Netherlands, Norway and Slovakia, have stopped issuing visas to tourists.
Sergey Prostakov, former expert of the Foundation for People’s Diplomacy statedeven serious costs do not prevent Europe from building an “iron curtain”.