Russian tourists spent 43 billion dollars

Last year, Russian tourists spent almost 43 billion dollars on foreign shopping, which is 37% more than the year before last, Hotels.com calculated. Eight years ago, Russians were more economical: in 2005, they spent a little more than 21 billion during their foreign trips. At the same time, the tourist flows in 2005 and 2012 were comparable: about 28 million Russians traveled abroad during these periods (data from Rostourism).

Political stability and rising prosperity allow Russians to spend more money on trips abroad. This conclusion is contained in the study of Russian International Travel Monitor.

In January-June this year, the most popular destinations for Russian tourists were the cities of Europe: Paris, Rome, Madrid, Barcelona and Prague.

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Russia is still one of the five countries whose citizens spend a lot on foreign travel, says Hotels.com. Unconditional primacy for China: tourists from this country willingly spend on visiting museums, sightseeing and buying souvenirs. Then there are the citizens of Germany, USA and Great Britain. "But in a year or two, Russia will overtake one of these countries," said Nigel Pocklington, head of marketing at Hotels.com. He sees the potential for growth in tourist traffic in the following: low-cost air carriers began to appear in Russia, some countries began to facilitate the visa regime for tourists from Russia. In addition, Russians have long vacations: they, as noted by Hotels.com, take an average of 40 days a year, including holidays. Many Russians still do not have foreign passports, but given that the country's population exceeds 140 million people, the growth potential of foreign travel for citizens of the country is enormous, according to a study by Hotels.com. But few of our fellow citizens feel comfortable when traveling abroad, including because of language problems. However, 24% of hoteliers surveyed by Hotels.com noted that Russian residents "have improved their ability to communicate in foreign languages, in particular, in English."