The President of the Russian Union of Vacationer Trade (RCT) Ilya Umansky revealed on Friday that Russian outbound tourism within the first half of the 12 months grew by 15 p.c and that by the tip of the 12 months, the overall variety of Russians who will journey exterior the nation on vacationer journeys will attain 10 million.

Umansky mentioned, in accordance with the Russian Interfax Company: “We don’t get sufficient vacationers, and the expansion charge reached 15 p.c upon departure, and that journey consultants in Russia are confused about Turkey.”

“We predicted that the inflow of vacationers to Turkey would enhance in comparison with final 12 months from 5.2 million to seven million, however to this point the forecast has not been met as a consequence of adjustments in the price of holidays in Turkey and the weakening of the ruble,” he defined.

Umansky identified that that is as a result of prices of holidays in Turkey rising by about 47 p.c this 12 months, at a time when different overseas locations started to draw the inflow of Russian vacationers, reminiscent of Egypt and the UAE, which fashioned enticing costs for Russians even regardless of the acute warmth.

“We’ve got a excessive vacationer stream to Egypt, in addition to the Maldives and Thailand, as we have now reached pre-coronavirus indicators,” he acknowledged.

Relating to inbound tourism, Umansky mentioned it will likely be decrease than final 12 months.

He defined, “We are actually going worse than final 12 months, by 7.7 p.c when it comes to the variety of foreigner journeys to Russia. The trade is in dire want of some options, together with introducing an digital visa, launching a “vacationer card” to resolve fee issues, and exchanging visa-free group journey with China.”

In accordance with the Border Service of the Federal Safety Service of the Russian Federation, in 2022 simply over 200,000 overseas vacationers visited Russia – virtually 30 p.c lower than the prior 12 months.