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Most Russians vacationed in Turkey, Greece or Cyprus in 2021 — tour operators

Earlier, the Russian Union of Travel Industry Vice-President Yuri Barzykin said that this year Russians travel more actively, including within their regions

MOSCOW, September 30. /TASS/. Russians chose Turkey, Greece and Cyprus for their summer holidays, Russian tour operators told TASS on Thursday.

"In the summer of 2021, Tez Tour clients more often chose holidays abroad. Staying within the country was in 6th place. Turkey is the undisputed leader in sales, followed by Greece, Cyprus, Egypt and the Maldives," Tez Tour said.

According to the tour operator, the share of applications for travel to Turkey this year was 73% (in 2020, when most foreign destinations were closed, about 82%, in the "pre-COVID-19 2019 - just over 60%). Just over 15% of Tez Tour clients visited Greece. In 2020, Russia occupied the third place in the rating, since domestic tourism was the first to become available to Russians after the restrictions imposed by the pandemic were lifted, in 2019 - China, the company said.

The Dominican Republic, Cuba, Mexico, Maldives, United Arab Emirates and Egypt, recently opened for Russian tourists, also became the most popular summer destinations among Anex Tour clients. According to the press service of the tour operator, in general, tourists choose a place where "all-inclusive" food service is available.

Until 2019, Tunisia, Greece, Cyprus and Spain were also among the top summer destinations among Anex Tour clients, in 2020 it was Turkey, Russia, Abkhazia, the United Arab Emirates and the Maldives. As Tez Tour said it is no surprise that the Maldives made the Top 5, since in 2020 they were the first exotic destination available to Russians. The volume of air traffic in Male is still higher than in previous years.

The Russian Union of Travel Industry Vice-President Yuri Barzykin said that this year Russians travel more actively, including within their regions. This was facilitated by the cashback program for tours around the country and the launch of subsidized charter flights by Rosturizm to such regions as the Kaliningrad Region, Altai, Kamchatka, Sakhalin, and Buryatia.

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