Russia’s poor image puts off European visitors
Russia’s poor image overseas is putting off tourists from the US and western Europe, according to research.
Inbound tourism arrivals in 2012 showed solid growth to reach 26 million, according to Euromonitor International figures presented to the WTM Vision Conference – Moscow Today.
But Russia is still reliant on visitors from neighbouring countries and the industry needs to work on tourism flows from the US and Western Europe.
Visa bureaucracy, security, infrastructure and the quality of tourism services contributed to Russia’s poor image overseas, added senior research analyst, Mantas Kaluina.
Germany is its strongest western European market, but the figures for 2012 to 2017 fall well short of one million for each year.
Visitor numbers from China, however, will exceed one million by 2017.
The Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan accounted for nearly half of all visitors, sending around six million, three million and two million respectively.
Looking ahead to 2017, Euromonitor international expects little change, with the same three accounting for eight million, six million and four million arrivals.
Russia’s outbound market was up 9% in 2012, driven by the growth of the middle classes. The most popular destinations are local – Ukraine, Finland, Kazakhstan.
Reed Travel Exhibitions director World Travel Market Simon Press said: "The predicted growth in Russian outbound traffic is good news for the global industry, but the report shows greater support could be given to its inbound industry, especially to attract tourists form the large markets of the US and western Europe."
British Airways and easyJet are in competition on Russian routes after the no frills airline launched a service to Moscow from Manchester and Gatwick last month, see other story.
Diane
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