MOSCOW, May 30. /TASS/. The most popular foreign destinations among Russian tourists for the coming summer are Turkey, Abkhazia, China, the UAE and Egypt, according to data from the Association of Tour Operators of Russia (ATOR).
The top ten also includes Thailand, Vietnam, the Maldives, neighboring countries and Indonesia.
"Turkey remains the undisputed leader among tour operators, as it has been for many years. Turkey accounts for more than two-thirds of all summer sales for the largest companies. Over 80% of all summer tours were sold to Turkey, Egypt, the UAE, Vietnam, Thailand and Abkhazia. All other countries account for less than 20% of sales," ATOR says.
The association predicts the sharpest surge in the number of tourists for three mass outbound destinations: Vietnam (2.4-fold growth due to the launch of charter programs and new regular flights), Egypt (+45% due to the expansion of tour operators' flight programs), China (+25%, due to an increase in regular transportation volumes by almost 60%).
Turkey and Abkhazia will show moderate growth, while the summer tourist flow to Thailand will continue to grow.
According to preliminary forecasts by analysts, this summer the volume of outbound tourist flow from Russia to popular foreign tourist destinations will grow by 24.8% year-on-year - up to 6.4 million Russians. By the end of May, more than 50% of the entire summer offering of foreign tours had already sold out.
"The growth in demand for foreign vacations is due to several simultaneous factors. The strengthening of the ruble that began in the spring and continues now has stimulated sales. Air travel has also become cheaper to many popular destinations," Artur Muradyan, Vice President of ATOR for International Tourism and CEO of the tour operator Space Travel, explained.