Inbound tourist flow to Russia in the first half of the year remains unchanged
The number oftourist arrivals to Russia over the first six months of 2014 remains almost the
same; it has gone a mere 0.1% down compared to the same period in 2013.
Despite the
uneasy political situation, the flow of foreign citizens visiting Russia with
the purpose of tourism has not been affected. Moreover, the overall inbound
border traffic has even grown a little (+2%).
The
situation with Europe is a bit different. In total the flow from all EU
countries (excluding Luxembourg and Malta) has grown by almost 3% - 3143
thousand compared to 3061.3 thousand in the first half of 2013. Speaking of
tourists in particular, their numbers have gone 6% down – 455.5 thousand
compared to 486.2 thousand in the first six months in 2013.
The most
notable drop was shown by Austria (-19.5%), even though in absolute numbers
it’s not that great (see the table below). It’s followed by Finland (-16%) and
Spain (-15%). Germany, Japan, Italy and some others have rolled back as well.
On the
other hand, new emerging markets have been performing quite well. South Korea
has added 70% (compared to +21% in the same period last year) and managed to enter
the 9th position of the top 10 leading markets. Australia has grown
16%, Israel and Turkey – 14% each.
China has
been calling the shots on Russian inbound market lately. Even though the growth
has been slowing down since 2012 when it had reached +43% (in 2013 - +15; in
2014 - +4%). Nevertheless, the country managed to get to the first line of the
inbound rating, having moved Germany, the long-lasting leader.
Arrival of foreign tourists to Russia
January–June 2014–2010
(thousand
arrivals)