What are the most promising areas for the further development of inbound tourism?
In the first half of 2024, tourists from abroad made 584.6 thousand trips to Russia, follows from the statistics of the FSB Border Service. And this is only 13% less than in the whole of last year — then the border guards counted 670.7 thousand tourist trips to our country. And if we compare with the figures for the first half of 2023, when 187.8 foreign tourists came to us, then the growth of tourist flows is more than three times.
Tourist flow from China is growing, and tourists are changing
China is the leader in terms of tourist flow — 301.8 thousand tourists came to us from there, which is 9 times more than in the first half of 2023 (then there were only 32.3 thousand guests from China).
This is the most impressive growth of all that the inbound destinations demonstrate. On the one hand, the reasons are obvious: there are more and more flights between our countries, the availability of travel is growing, and the potential remains huge — in the 1st quarter of 2019 in Russia from Almost twice as many tourists came to China, 592 thousand. On the other hand, experts say that the structure of the tourist flow itself consists of China has changed significantly. If previously people came to us mainly on group visa-free lists, and travel to Russia was associated in China, as a rule, with economy tourism options, but now the situation has changed dramatically. Almost half of the flow to the Russian Federation is made up of individual tourists who are willing to spend substantial amounts of money on travel.
“Of course, we still have cross—border tourism to cities such as Vladivostok, Khabarovsk, Blagoveshchensk, etc. – these are traditional Chinese destinations for large groups who choose budget tours. For the rest, it’s time for “cheap” group tourism from China is irrevocably gone. The potential for the development of entry from China is, of course, individual travel: they will become the basis of the tourist flow in the future. Russia. Especially if we are talking about trips to the capitals, as well as other remote ones China’s regions: the Urals, the Volga region, Murmansk, etc. The Chinese tourist has globalized, and it is necessary to prepare new tourist products for him,” explained the co—head of the Committee on inbound tourism of the PCT, CEO of Profi.Travel Alexey Vengin.
In addition, tourists from China visit Russia as part of combined tours, for example, they come to Mongolia, and from there they fly to Lake Baikal. “There are more flights, respectively, and logistical opportunities for such trips, too,” says a representative of Hunnu Air in Russia Maxim Tsydendorzhiev. — U “Iraero“ this year there are four flights a week, and our charter has been added to Irkutsk. We see an increase in demand for such trips from tourists from China, Taiwan, and South Korea.”
Who is out of place in the top 5?
Turkmenistan is in second place in terms of entry, with the tourist flow doubling from 14.1 thousand people to 31.2 thousand. However, strictly speaking, this is hardly the tourist flow — most likely, the citizens of this country declare tourism as the purpose of the visit, but go with other tasks, primarily workers. Turkey, which Turkmenistan displaced from the second place, did not grow too much — by 6 thousand trips, to 26.8 thousand. There is probably some proportion of tourists from this country, but mostly they come from it to Russia for business purposes. The tourist flow from Germany, which was in fourth place, doubled, from 12.5 thousand. up to 24.16 thousand . However, it is also possible to incorrectly indicate the purpose of trips. According to experts, recently a fairly noticeable number of Russians have moved to Germany and obtained citizenship there — their contribution is also in these figures.
The market is confident: among the promising countries in terms of the development of inbound tourism, it is worth paying attention to the UAE — over the year, the Emirates moved from the last place in the top 10 immediately to the fifth, increasing the tourist flow almost fourfold: from 5 thousand tourists in the first half of 2023 to 19.26 thousand. And if we add to this figure another 16.2 thousand travelers from Saudi Arabia, then these two Arab countries will overtake all others, except China, and come in second place in terms of volumes. Here you can add another 6.5 thousand tourists who came in the 1st quarter of this year from Qatar and Bahrain, who were not included in the top ten.
“In fact, this is one Arab market, and the same promotion laws apply to it, these tourists need approximately the same tourist product. Of course, there are nuances in logistics, which creates many opportunities for tourists from the UAE and greatly slows down, for example, the tourist flow from Saudi Arabia. There are differences in the visa policy. But, nevertheless, do not forget, all these countries have great potential in the inbound tourism market, and the volume growth here will certainly continue. Especially if we consistently work to solve the key problems that hinder the development of entry from the Middle East region. In addition to the need to increase the number and geography of direct flights, as well as the relaxation of the visa regime, it is also the introduction of a tourist card system that would allow you to pay for goods and services without difficulty,” Alexey Vengin believes.
Arab tourists are attracted primarily by eco-tourism. In this regard, Altai, Baikal, other regions of Siberia and the Far East, Karelia, Murmansk region, etc. have great prospects. Those regions that can add skiing, fishing and hunting, wellness and adventure tourism to the unique natural beauties can also claim to attract tourist traffic from Arab countries. “There is a large audience of fans of extreme entertainment in the Persian Gulf countries,” said Dmitry Arutyunov, General Director of the ART TOUR tour operator. — For example, skydiving is still super popular in Dubai, when a tourist parachutes onto a Palm Island. There are really a lot of young, wealthy and adventurous travelers there.”
What other destinations have potential in the inbound tourism market
In addition to the countries listed above, the top 10 destinations for entry included: Iran (14 thousand, plus 52%), India (10.24 thousand, double growth), Kazakhstan (9.8 thousand, plus 58%) and Cuba (8.5 thousand, plus 161%).
From the point of view of experts, India is of the greatest interest here. According to various estimates, the Indian middle class is already approaching the figure of 200 million people. These are families with an income of more than 3 thousand dollars. And according to forecasts, by 2025 the country will reach a record level of 29 million tourist trips. And although the tourist flow from it has already demonstrated a twofold increase, the potential for Russia is much more significant here. This process is hindered, of course, by the shortage of direct flights and high prices for flights, which are formed due to lack of transportation.
So far, Aeroflot only operates flights to Goa and Delhi from Moscow and Yekaterinburg. However, there is a possibility that the national carrier expects to add flights to India if it enlists the support of the authorities.
As for Iran, the growth here may be due to the exchange of visa-free groups that has begun, although tour operators say that the process has not been debugged, and there has been scant enough progress for the rapid development of the tourist flow.
The reasons for the growth of Kazakhstan are rather the same as those of Germany — it is due to a fairly large number of relocators, and trips are made primarily to relatives. Cuba, on the other hand, remains a blank spot for travel industry professionals: it can be assumed that trips here are primarily of a business nature, although they are declared as tourist.
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