Outbound Travel From Russia 2017-2018

According to the results of the RusIndex survey the number of Russians going on a beach holiday in 2017 increased by 2 percentage points over last year. The number of travelers who went on excursions and educational tours, on the contrary, is 3 percentage points down. There is also an increase in the proportion of Russians who went on river or sea cruises - from 4% in 2016 to 7% in 2017. The number of people attending cultural events, such as sport events, festivals, concerts, etc., is growing slowly but steadily. Unlike the proportion of those who traveled abroad for welness medical threatment which is declining. As the results of RusIndex survey show, in 2017 spendings on one trip per personincreased by another 7% in rubles.

52% of those who went abroad in 2017 were traveling during 1,5-2 weeks. The number of those who were traveling for 1 week significantly increased (+ 6 percentage points). On the contrary, the number of those who were traveling for more than two weeks significantly decreased (- 5 percentage points). 4-stars hotels are the most popular ones. In 2017 the proportion of those who prefer 4-start hotels increased by 2 percentage points. 3-stars hotels decreased by 3 percentage points. The visits for 5-stars hotels, 2-stars hotels and hostels has not changed.

Despite the fact that 74% of Russians say that the youth will have more opportunities to travel abroad than their parents, the analysis of economic factors shows that few will be able to afford heavy travel expenses. At the same time, security is a significant factor in choosing a particular destination of travel. Nowadays Asian countries - Japan and China - are considered to be the safest in terms of the risk of terrorist threats and crime rate.

The publicity also has a significant impact on the perception of the country as an attractive place to travel. Nowadays negative news dominates the information flow and people tend to pay attention on them more than on positive events. Regions interested in increasing the flow of Russian tourists should make active and purposeful efforts to increase the positive publicity about their regions in Russia.