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More Russians opt for domestic tourism — tourism authority

This summer, many Russians will choose Moscow, St. Petersburg, the Golden Ring, the southern Krasnodar region and the new federal district of Crimea as holiday destinations

© ITAR-TASS/Artyom Korotayev

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Making Crimea top holiday destination is ambitious but attainable goal - expert

MOSCOW, June 04. /ITAR-TASS/. More and more Russian nationals are opting for domestic tourism, Oleg Safronov, acting Head of the Federal Agency for Tourism (Rosturizm), said on Wednesday.

This summer, many Russians will choose Moscow, St. Petersburg, the Golden Ring (a clutch of towns north-east of Moscow where ancient Rus grew into the Russian nation), the southern Krasnodar region and the new federal district of Crimea as holiday destinations, he told ITAR-TASS.

“Over the last years, Russian nationals have been increasingly interested in travelling inside the country, but we understand that the scope of domestic tourism may be much bigger than now,” Safronov said. “Rosturizm is now facing a strategically important task — to increase the number of tourists holidaying at home,” he added.

According to the tourism authority, last year 33.5 million Russians spent their holidays at home. However, trips abroad in the high tourism season will be also in demand, he said. “I don’t think any new holiday destinations abroad will appear this year,” Safronov added.

“We forecast that tours to Turkey, Greece and Spain will be popular,” Safronov said, noting an unfavorable situation owing to a military coup in Thailand, another country on the list of popular holiday destinations for Russians.

The situation is calm in all tourism zones, he added.

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