Russian tourists spent over 2.2 million nights in Germany last year;this is 26% more than in 2011. These figures, said the director of the German National
Tourist Office in Russia, Ms.
Alla Belikova, at the press-conference held at MITT-2013, Russia entitle Russia to qualify among key tourist
suppliers. Germany
aims to set new records in the upcoming season. According to Ms. Belikova, German
visa application centers are to contribute to the increase of the tourist flow.
Four of them have been recently opened in Moscow,
Yekaterinburg, Novosibirsk and Saratov. Three more – in Rostov-on-Don, Krasnodar and Nizhny Novgorod
– are on the way. Besides, new flights are to be launched between Germany and Russia. Since May, 14, Moscow and Bremen will be
finally linked by a direct flight operated by German low-cots carrier, Germania. Last year, a scheduled flight of Air Berlin took off from the German capital to Kaliningrad; besides that, the Ural Airlines commenced services
between Moscow and Cologne.
Meanwhile the list of the most popular German cities among Russians remains
the same: Munich gets 30% of all Germany-bound Russian
tourists, Berlin (22%), Dusseldorf
(8%) and Frankfurt (7%). According to the German
National Tourist Office in Russia,
Munich showed a
record year-on-year growth of almost 40%. "I think the fact that the capital
of Bavaria is a transit point for tourist travelling
about Europe has a lot to do with the record figures,"
Alla Belikova noted.
Besides, Germany
still relies on health tourism. In 2011, according to Ms. Belikova, 53 thousand
Russians visited the country seeking qualified medical care. The soon-to-come 2012's
figure is expected to be even higher. Shopping in Germany remains attractive for Russians
as well. A Research made by one of the leading suppliers of financial services in
the field of tax free retail, the Global Blue Company, shows that the purchasing
power of the Russians is only inferior to that of the Chinese. Our compatriots'
share is 27% of the total turnover of tax free services. An average Russian's purchase
amounts to €325 and consists of clothes, watches and jewelry.
