Tuesday 18 December 2012

Rosstat Reports 13% Increase of Inbound 10% Increase of Outbound Tourist Flow

Russia
According to the Federal State Statistics Service (Rosstat), in the first 9 months of 2012 the number of Russian citizens traveling abroad increased by 10% compared to the same period in 2011 and amounted to nearly 37.3 million people. The number of foreign citizens visiting the Russian Federation in the first 9 months of 2012 increased by 13% compared to the same period last year and amounted to nearly 21.7 million people. We should note that these figures may be different to tour operators’ data; ATOR analytical service will summarize tour operators’ statistics at the end of December.

In the first ninemonths, growth of outbound tourism from Russia was recorded to the most destinations. Turkey still leads in number of Russian tourists among other countries. From January to September, the country was visited by 2.3 million of Russian guests. Actually, this number is 7% less than in the same period last year. Egypt ranks second in terms of number of Russian tourists - 1,225,000  in the first nine months of 2012.This index is lower than before the revolution, but Egypt shows steady tourism recovery. According to the Federal State Statistics Service, the number of tourists from Russia to Egypt in the first nine months of 2012 increased by 35% compared to the same period last year.

Japan showshighest increase (81%) in Russian visitor arrivals. Slovakia ranks second in terms of dynamics of Russian tourist arrivals (+ 105%). However, the country was visited only by about 2.3 thousand tourists from Russia in the first nine months of 2012. Romania sees a similar situation: an increase of 58%, but the number of our tourists visiting the country did not reach 1.9 thousand in this period.

The number of tourists to Tunisia grew by 49% compared to the same period last year, totaling more than 190,800. Jordan recovers not so fast with a 7% increase in Russian tourist arrivals, totaling more than 6.3 thousand from January to September 2012.It should be noted that the revolutionary movement has had a negative impact on all Arab countries. For example, tourists are confident about stability of the UAE, so tourist arrivals from Russia to the country increased by 39% (339.4 thousand) in the first nine months of 2012.

Tourist flow from Russia to Estonia grew by 37%  and to Norway –by 40%. The number of Russian tourists to Switzerland  increased by 23% in the first nine months of 2012, compared to the same period last year. Arrivals in France and Austria increased by 13% and in Germany - by 14%. European beach destinations also showed good growth in popularity during this period. Thus, the number of Russian tourists visiting Bulgaria and Greece increased by 14%(more than 370,000 and 650,000 visitors respectively). The number of tourists traveling to Spain amounted to 690,000, this  is 22% more than in the same period last year.

The mostserious decline in Russian tourist arrivals was recorded in Sweden (-50%) and Finland (-43%). Hungary saw  19% drop in visitors from Russia. Let us recall that Hungary's nationalairlineMalev, offering good fares on the route Moscow – Budapest, left the market this year.

In the first ninemonths of 2012 Russian arrivals in Lithuania decreased by 18%, in China - by 11%, in Israel - by 4%. We note that statistics of Federal State Statistics Service has some calculatingerrors. So, for example, Rosstat does not consider tourists who take connecting flights.

Also, it is worth noting that the calculation ofthe total number of Russians entering different countries, not just those who specified tourism as a goal of arrival, gives different priorities and figures. Thus Finland ranks first (nearly 3.9 million Russian visitors, or +18% ), Turkey ranks second (3 million Russians, +1%), China - third  (1.7 million Russians, - 6%). Egypt received nearly 1.5 million Russian guests (+ 40%), Estonia -1.4 million (+12%), Germany -more than 1 million, (+ 4%).

The largest number of tourists (people who specified tourism as a goal of arrival) came to Russia from Germany – 338, 500 in the first nine months of 2012(+ 10%). In this period Russia welcomed 276,000tourists from China (+ 41%,) and 164,800tourists from the United States (+ 9%).

If we consider the total number of foreigners entering Russia, Finland took first place with more than 1 million of its citizen visiting  Russia in the period from January to September 2012 (total growth +14%). Poland took second place with 802 900 visitors and an increase of 59%. China ranks third (678,500)  with 678,500 visitors and an increase of 13%.

In the first nine months of 2012 arrivals from Australia to Russia showed a significant growth of 31% (more than 29 thousand of tourists). Egypt and Cuba also demonstrated a high growth in their visitor number (40% and 56%, respectively), but in terms of total arrivals from these countries results cannot be considered serious: Russia received about 3 thousand Egyptian tourists (10,000 guests in total) and 1.8 thousand Cuban tourists (less than 3 thousand guests in total).

 After the abolition of visa regime with Turkey, the number of tourists from this country to Russia began to grow. For the first nine months of 2012 this number amounted to 75 thousand tourists (+ 29%). The number of tourists from Thailand increased by 13% (8.3 thousand) in this period.

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