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Russian tour operators stop offering shopping tours to Belarus given lower demand — expert

Tour operators have also discontinued selling tours to CIS countries for obtaining bank cards issued by foreign banks, Maya Lomidze said

MOSCOW, August 3. /TASS/. Russian tour operators have halted sales of shopping tours to Belarus in view of collapsing demand, Association of Tour Operators of Russia (ATOR) Executive Director Maya Lomidze told TASS.

"Nothing of the kind [is being offered] anymore," she said in response to a relevant question.

Russians are now buying apparel by Western brands that exited the market through retailers based in the UAE and Turkey, the expert said. "These are not trips strictly for the purpose of shopping, as such, as was the case for Milan, but more attention is being given [to shopping excursions] during vacations [abroad], and Dubai, Istanbul, and Turkey at large, account for an increasing share of such [foreign shopping] activity," Lomidze noted.

Tour operators have also discontinued selling tours to CIS countries for obtaining bank cards issued by foreign banks, the tourism executive said. "There are no such tours anymore. People are resolving these [personal finance] issues themselves, by going to Kazakhstan. This is because it is possible to resolve banking issues there without resorting to intermediaries," she stressed.

Russian tour operators launched shopping tours to Belarus last August. In March 2022, they had started offering tours abroad expressly for the purpose of obtaining Visa and MasterCard bank cards.

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Belarus Tourism

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