MOSCOW, February 6. /TASS/. The number of trips made by Russians to the top 25 predominantly tourist countries in 2024 increased by 15.4% compared to last year and amounted to 17.4 mln, the Association of Tour Operators of Russia (ATOR) reported.

"Taking into account the correction of the border service data, the ATOR analytical service estimates the volume of trips by Russians to the top 25 predominantly tourist countries at 17.4 mln trips in 2024. This is 59.7% of the total outbound flow from Russia in 2024. The tourist flow to this group of countries increased by 15.4% compared to 2023," the report said.

According to the association, Turkey accounts for almost 40% of the outbound tourism market in Russia (38.5%). The UAE is in second place with 11.4%, China is third with 10.9%, Thailand is fourth with 10%, followed by Abkhazia and Egypt (8.6% and 8.5%, respectively). These six countries together receive 88% of all Russian tourist trips per year.

In order to estimate the annual volume of tourist flows, the ATOR analytical service uses measurements for all purposes of visits to the top 25 countries with predominantly tourist nature of trips. The experts are focused on the data of the Border Service of the Russian Federal Security Service, adjusted with the entry statistics of foreign countries.

According to the data, in 2024 the tourist flow of Russians to Turkey increased by 6.3% compared to 2023 to 6.7 mln trips, to the UAE - by 15.6% to 1.99 mln, to China - by 96.5% to 1.9 mln, to Thailand - by 17.8% to 1.7 mln, to Abkhazia - by 7.1% to 1.5 mln, to Egypt - by 15.3% to 1.48 mln. The top 10 destinations also included Vietnam (+84.9%, 232,000 trips), the Maldives (+7.7%, 225,000), Sri Lanka (+2.2%, 202,000), and South Korea (+25.9%, 195,000). The statistics also include transit trips.

The total number of trips by Russians for all purposes to 10 post-Soviet countries (Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, South Ossetia, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan) reached 7.56 mln in 2024. A significant share of tourism in trips was noted for Georgia (the outbound flow to this country in 2024 increased by 21.5% compared to 2023), Azerbaijan (+25.8%), and Uzbekistan (+28.8%), ATOR added.