The head of Rostourism, Oleg Safonov, spoke in an interview with Izvestia about how tourists' preferences are changing, the growth of inbound tourist flow, how to avoid troubles while traveling, and the best places to celebrate the New Year in Russia.
Oleg Safonov noted that often a large number of tourists come to Russia to celebrate the New Year from China, France, Great Britain, Germany, Spain, and countries of the Asia-Pacific region. In addition, tourists also come from India. The tourist flow from distant foreign countries has grown by 13%, mainly due to the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
When asked how popular Crimea is now, the Head of Rostourism answered that this year Crimea entered the TOP-5 rating in popularity among tourists for the New Year holidays. Thanks to the opening of the bridge, the peninsula has become much more popular, and many more tourists have begun to come than before. For example, according to data from the beginning of December, 6.6 million people have visited Crimea.
If tourists are planning to go on a long trip for the New Year holidays, the head of Rostourism recommended that tourists pay attention to the current situation in certain countries, and, of course, refrain from visiting those countries where there is a threat to the life and health of Russian tourists.
Answering a question about how the scandal in Salisbury affected the flow of tourists to Great Britain, the head of Rostourism noted that interest in the destination on the part of Russian tourists has increased.
"We don't have data specifically on Salisbury, but the outbound flow to the UK for the first three quarters of 2018 has decreased by 11% compared to the same period last year. I assume that, against the backdrop of the anti-Russian activity of the UK authorities, our citizens have become cautious about traveling to Britain," said Oleg Safonov.
Source: trn-news.ru