BERLIN, July 25. /ITAR-TASS/. Russians made about 32 million trips abroad last year, thus breaking through to the third place on the European travelling rating, goes the research by the international consulting company World Travel Monitor released on Friday.

In this, the Russians beat the French, with most trips abroad made by people from Moscow and St. Petersburg. Besides, Russians made about a third of total foreign travelling growth in Europe over 2010 - 2013.

Turkey visited by 4.3 million retains its appeal for Russian tourists. Germany and China attracted 2.1 million and 2 million Russian tourists. Egypt performed worse than previously; Spain, whereas Greece and Thailand became more popular destinations.

According to the company, 27 million foreign trips were private, out of this amount 22 million “classic” vacations and about 5 million visits to relatives and friends. Last year, 12.5 million trips were beach holidays followed by excursions (3.8 million) and round-the-world trips (1.3 million).

Internet hotel and ticket reservation is increasingly widespread but is still not replaced by tour agencies popular with 37% of vacationers.

World Travel Monitor, world's largest provider of primary international tourism and travel data, has dispelled the myth about superrich Russian tourists throwing money around. According to the research, only 15% of holidaymakers have an above-average vacation budget, whereas 51% has quite a modest amount of money - about 1,200 euros per trip for one person, which only slightly exceeds holiday spending of other Europeans.