Analytical agency TurStat compiled. According to these statistics, outbound tourism from Russia in 2018 grew by more than 20% to Turkey, Georgia, Italy, UAE, Tunisia, Hungary, Qatar, Cuba and some other countries. According to the Federal State Statistics Service (Rosstat), the number of outbound trips in 2018 increased by 5.8% to 41 million 964 thousand (in 2017, their number was 39 million 629 thousand).

Where did Russians go most often in 2018?

Last year, Turkey turned out to be the most popular tourist destination: Russians made 5 million 719 thousand trips to it. The top ten also includes Abkhazia (4 million 496 thousand trips), Finland (3 million 361 thousand), Kazakhstan (2 million 955 thousand), Ukraine (2 million 290 thousand), China (2 million 018 thousand. ), Estonia (1 million 798 thousand), Germany (1 million 297 thousand), Georgia (1 million 233 thousand) and Thailand (1 million 173 thousand).

To which countries has the tourist flow from Russia increased?

The fastest growing tourist destinations in 2018 were Turkey (5 million 719 thousand trips, + 27% compared to 2017), Georgia (1 million 233 thousand, + 23%), Italy (1 million 086 thousand, +22 %), The UAE (941 thousand, + 23%), Tunisia (611 thousand, + 28%) and Armenia (434 thousand, + 18%). The most popular beach tourist destinations among Russians were Thailand (1,173,000 trips, + 7%), Vietnam (531,000, + 4%) and Cuba (101,000, + 46%).

Which EU countries are popular with Russian tourists?

According to analysts, Finland, Estonia, Germany, Poland, Italy, Spain, Cyprus, Greece, Lithuania and the Czech Republic are among the top 10 EU countries most popular with Russian tourists. At the same time, in 2018, compared to 2017, the flow of tourists from Russia to Poland decreased by 11%, to Greece - by 6%, to the Czech Republic - by 1%, to Lithuania - by 0.5%, but the overall figures still remained high ... The most popular European excursion, resort and beach destinations among Russians at the end of last year were Italy, Spain and France.

Let's talk about where and how Russian people rest. This is quite interesting.

The crisis has affected many spheres of life for Russians, including the entertainment sector.

The trend has remained the same: people watch TV series, spend time at the dacha (these activities do not require special expenses), but they have become less likely to visit shopping and entertainment centers and travel abroad.

“The consumer confidence index, according to Rosstat, at the end of the 1st quarter of 2015 fell to minus 32% from minus 18% in the 4th quarter of 2014 (it was worse only in the 1st quarter of 2009 - minus 35%). Real incomes were declining, the population began to save on everything that did not belong to basic necessities ”(Vedomosti)

Our compatriots have begun to rest "on a grand scale" less often, they save on everything except the most urgent needs , only a few are having fun with the same, pre-crisis dynamics. Basically, everyone has "pulled their belts" and are trying to find an alternative to foreign and noisy, restaurant, club rest in some kind of home, useful or inexpensive activities.

For instance, sales of board games increased, Russians began to visit fitness centers more actively , to pump the press, to follow the figure, someone even decided to radically change their habits: and chose knitting, reading books as entertainment.

“Outbound tourism has dropped significantly. For example, one third fewer Russians arrived in Europe in the first quarter than a year ago. The turnover of restaurants, cafes and bars in Russia in Q1 decreased by 4.4%. Russians visit shopping malls less, and sales of clothing and footwear have almost halved in physical terms. It's even embarrassing to remember car sales. "

Sitting at home provokes not only the development of interest in inactive and inexpensive forms of entertainment, but also, for example, in drinking ... About the latter, it is only known that:

“The production of vodka and beer in 2014 decreased by 22.5 and 7%, respectively, and retail sales of alcohol - by 7.7%. Wine imports in the first quarter fell by a third. On the other hand, last year the excise tax on strong alcohol rose sharply, causing an increase in the shadow turnover of vodka and sales of moonshine stills. Since February 1, 2015, the minimum price for vodka has been reduced ”(Vedomosti).

However, so far the picture is as follows: there are many beer kiosks, bottling points, and they are doing well ...

The majority of Russians, that during the crisis, that before it they are engaged in the most popular type of leisure - watch TV. Another significant part - prefers to spend time in the country, in nature.

Despite numerous talks about how good it is abroad, only 17% of our compatriots have passports. About 70-80% of Russians have never vacationed abroad. In general, visiting is good, but at home it's better ...

For example, in 2014, only 8% of Russians traveled outside the country, 21% rested at their dachas, 40% never went anywhere during their holidays, while 79% (in all categories) are satisfied with the state of affairs, but among those who have been abroad, they remained 91% satisfied.

“Among the factors that darkened the rest of Russians were high prices - 12% of respondents complained about them, and poor service - 12% were also dissatisfied with the service sector.

If we talk about costs, then on average Russians spent 29,731 rubles on a trip, which is less than last year (30,778). At the same time, vacationers from Moscow and St. Petersburg had the highest spending: 38,579 rubles, which, however, is not surprising: incomes in these cities also exceed the national average. "

The most favorite countries among Russian tourists - according to the Federal Agency for Tourism:

Egypt (since the beginning of 2015, 402 thousand people have visited it),

Thailand (185 thousand people),

Germany (141 thousand Russians),

United Arab Emirates (107 thousand Russians since the beginning of this year),

Italy (101 thousand tourists).

Abroad, Russian tourists prefer to sunbathe, visit attractions, go shopping, etc.

On Russian lands and beaches, people prefer: wallow on the beach, explore the world with excursions, settle in a sanatorium.

There are fewer of those who go hiking on their own, pitch a tent in front of an abyss 3 km away, and float down rough river rapids on a makeshift raft. But the latter is more interesting to everyone than the usual comfortable and guaranteed safe rest: where, no matter how in front of the face of fear of death, with overwhelming adrenaline in your blood, you can appreciate everyday life without adventures?

Russian resorts, recreation areas, natural parks, rivers, lakes, dachas, a house in the village with their grandmother, fishing, picking mushrooms, berries, and barbecue are becoming an alternative to foreign horizons for a large part of Russians who cannot afford a vacation abroad.

And although rest on their lands can be much better than foreign ones - after all, there are conditions - nevertheless, even those who do not go to foreign lands dream of visiting there. Because it is exotic, a change of scenery ... more often than not, relaxation is good in a favorable environment, but just in one that is cut off from the usual rut. True, if, being unprepared, go to the countries of South Africa with the opposite climate typical for Russia, leave bitten by insects, it is not a fact that the rest will "succeed."

Today, only a quarter of Russians leaving on vacation leave home and only 5% go abroad, 2.5 times more vacationing in Crimea.

In fact, fewer young Russians go to nightclubs than about 7% imagine. The main age group is up to 30 years old. A third of Russians visit cafes, restaurants, coffee houses, bars, 17% - fast food, 13% - beauty salons.

Nightclubs are no longer as popular as they used to be. If at one time they were a new format of such a remnant of society as discos in the rural house of the Komsomol, where everyone came in sweatshirts, leggings and with a mafon on their shoulders, today there is already a more modern alternative to nightclubs. It is much more fashionable to go to theaters, get carried away with the abstract art of some pretentious, inadequate geniuses and amaze everyone around with knowledge of the unknown to mere mortals. However, those who have passed over 30 are still unanimously repeating that our young people are decomposed, they love only dance floors and "energetic".

We will not talk about the moral qualities of young people, since this is a difficult question, but about the fact that the older generation, to put it mildly, is stupid ... this is not true. More and more you can meet very smart young people who, at the age of 18, easily entered a medical university and who are able to enlighten some doctors with the knowledge; those who are fond of the creativity of such famous personalities, whom the former generation began to know only when they turned 40 ... And these are not isolated cases - there are many such teenagers. In general, nightclubs are a thing of the past.

Quite a lot of Russians are “cultivated”:

“Go to cinemas (22%),

museums, galleries and exhibitions (12%),

drama theaters (11%),

concerts of both modern (8%) and classical (5%) music, circuses (4%) ”.

In general, cultural events are becoming more and more popular among Russians, which, of course, pleases.

For example, in our city ten years ago, many museums were located in buildings with facades and premises requiring repair, the exhibitions themselves were rarely attended. Today everything has been renovated, many new cultural points have been opened and are being visited.

Yes, and that all-Russian, that regional events are held at a completely different level than before. On Youth Day, for example, I remember ten years ago the main entertainment for those to whom the holiday was dedicated was to get drunk and walk around the city inadequate, to frighten people.

And now there are enough drunks, but there are bright, interesting, useful events that remain in the memory of those who were drunk: carnivals, games, shows, surprises, various miracles, concerts, special effects, etc.

Evenings of reading poetry, and various library educational programs(do you think they are used by excellent students who do not crawl out from their desks?) gather enough advanced youth. Of course, there are also some young people who will take a different path, but nevertheless, today Russia is becoming more intellectual - this is a fact.

And yet, one of the entertainment that exists in parallel with others or replaces everything is watching TV.. What and how often do people watch on TV? Despite the popularity of the Internet, TV is still among the leaders among many Russians, who consider it a source of knowledge and basic information about the world. News and films are what most often viewers watch from TV screens in our country.

Series occupy a special place in the TV-in-demand rating. What attracts people to screens or to contemplating beautifully played stories of someone else's life over the Internet? It seems like a useless thing to watch artificial tragedies, fairy tales from the outside. However, the majority of TV shows are just a banal vanity of life, it does not bring any benefit, but it also does much harm ... "about nothing," one might say, or "about something, but still meaningless."

Perhaps this is the concept of rest for many: you can not think, but just sit on the sofa and watch, albeit someone else's, but such an interesting life ...

Almost the same as TV is popular on the Internet among Russians, “hanging out on the net” is the most popular activity after watching TV programs. It will probably be superfluous to mention the Internet as a means of communication and pastime in detail. If you are reading this article, you understand what it is about and what the Internet means in the modern world.

What is "real Russian vacation" in general?? If we remove vodka and its analogues from the first associations and the presented picture, then, of course, a feast, a bathhouse, barbecue, nature, a village. Or a rural summer resort, weeding beds, swimming in a cold river, fishing from a lake a little bigger than a puddle, etc. In winter - sledges, slides, snowballs ...

You won't go to the village for the rest of your life, but for a couple of weeks it is quite possible, just a cardinal change of scenery. Isn't it a rest?

But still, the foreign country is needed, there are many wonders, views, contrasts that are not in Russia, at the same time, you can evaluate what our country is in comparison with others.

Some of my friends who love watching soap operas on TV - every season they plan to somehow radically change their lives, buy a dacha, go to a foreign resort, but most remain in the same position. And this is neither bad nor good, just a person very easily gets used to inert types of rest.

Someone manages to have fun in the workplace.. For example, as many as 10% of office workers play active (!) Games in the workplace, another part take breaks-smoke breaks every half hour.

A quarter of Russians play computer games, a tenth of board games: chess, checkers, many of them play games on their mobiles.

On the question of what is missing and what more Russians would like. Many would gladly go to an evening of humor and satire or something similar (for example, to a performance by the Comedy Club, KVN), a little less Russians want to see a drama theater performance, almost the same number to a pop music concert, a little less attractive Russians ballet, circus, classical music concerts, opera.

Our compatriots are very happy that Crimea has become part of Russia; more than half of Russians intend to go on vacation to this region, but so far only 3% have used this chance compared to 1% in 2003.

About rest, about the sights of Crimea in the video "Live in high"

The Black Sea is a popular vacation spot for Russians: today 12% of the population has a rest there, compared with 4% in 2003.

What else can be noted from the entertainment of Russians? Paintball, table tennis, rallies, tournaments to overcome difficult routes, chatting with friends, someone considers it fun to cook pickles and jams for the winter, delicious dishes according to non-standard recipes, embroidering a portrait of the Virgin on linen, creating figures using origami techniques, etc. .d.

What kind of entertainment do you prefer?

For many years now, Turkish resorts have remained leaders in the ranking of popular countries for recreation among Russian tourists. According to experts in the tourism industry, this is primarily due to the optimal ratio of price and quality. Turkey is also chosen by the Russians, who are afraid to fly to the now restless Egypt and relatively expensive Thailand. And in there you can improve your health at spa cruises, relieve fatigue in the hamam and enjoy a beach holiday. Read about which other countries have entered the TOP-10 places for recreation among Russian Internet users below.

Travel preferences of Internet users

Compiling a rating by an Internet search engine allows you to find out what exactly potential travelers were interested in in a particular country. Analysts of the Internet search engine summed up the results of tourist requests in order to draw up a rough picture of which countries were popular among Russian tourists in 2013.

As it turned out, the palm still belongs to Turkey. It is followed by Egypt, which is slowly recovering its popularity, which has plummeted due to the unstable political situation. Thailand, which was still a model of calm in October, is in third place in the ranking, and Italy is in fourth.

Greece was only in fifth place, but in sixth place was Finland, which with the onset of heavy snowfalls and cold weather "felt" more and more confident. Cyprus is in seventh place, the United Arab Emirates is in eighth place, the Czech Republic has chosen the ninth place, and Spain is at the end of the list.

Despite the fact that interest in a particular tourist destination does not mean that people go to this country on vacation, the rating of countries from Internet search engines allows you to find out what exactly potential travelers were interested in in these countries.

1. Turkey

An interesting situation has developed with the leader of the rating of countries. On the one hand, the number of requests decreased by half, on the other hand, at the end of 2013, Russian tourists broke another record for the number of tourists on Turkish beaches.

It should be borne in mind that the end of the year is not the most popular holiday period in Turkey. As analysts of the Association of Tour Operators of Russia believe, this state of affairs is due to the fact that many tourists who were going to rest in Egypt, because of the unrest in the country of the pyramids, went to Turkey. Of course, they were interested in their beach vacation.

2. Egypt

Despite the political unrest, Egypt remains one of the most popular destinations for Russian tourists. The most popular resort here turned out to be Sharm el-Sheikh, which, however, is not surprising, since the security situation there remained quite stable. Behind him is another resort, which was practically not affected by the protests - Hurghada.

3. Thailand

In hot Thailand, according to search queries, residents of the cold regions of our country most willingly flew: Siberia and the Far East. Tours during the New Year holidays were of the greatest interest for tourists. At the same time, Phuket turned out to be the most popular resort.

4. Italy

If the three leaders were interested in tourists exclusively from the point of view of a beach holiday, then in Italy, ski resorts turned out to be attractive for our compatriots. As an alternative to Italy, users most often considered Austria and Germany. In addition, many were looking for a map of Italy in Russian, which suggests interest from independent travelers who prefer to move around the country by car or travel by train.

5. Greece

Greece, in comparison at the end of 2013, received half the number of requests. However, here users were interested not so much in Greek beaches as in shopping tours, as well as sightseeing trips around the country. At the same time, there were very few inquiries about pilgrimage tours for the whole month - about five hundred.

6. Finland

Finland was of interest to Russian travelers primarily in connection with the upcoming New Year holidays. At the same time, preference was given to short tours lasting no more than three days.

The Russians were also interested in ferry travel and bus tours to this northern country. There were also quite a few inquiries about fishing in Finland. As an alternative to Finland, tourists considered France and Hungary, which is quite difficult to explain logically.

7. Cyprus

The interest of Russian tourists in Cyprus has slightly decreased by the end of the year, according to analytical reports. The reason for this is the end of the high season. In addition, the number of requests for a Cypriot visa has also halved. As an alternative to Cyprus, users searched for Greece or Tunisia.

8. UAE

The increased number of requests for holidays in the Emirates, analysts associate everything with the same situation in Egypt - the number of requests has doubled, while users considered Thailand and China as an alternative to holidays in the UAE.

9. Czech

The interest of Russian tourists in the Czech Republic has slightly decreased. However, the number of requests for tours with the nearest departure dates has increased markedly, as has the demand for sightseeing tours.

At the same time, travelers showed the greatest interest not so much in flying or buying a tour, but in accommodation in the Czech Republic. This may also indicate that a sufficient number of independent tourists are showing interest in this country. As an alternative, tourists considered other European countries - France and Austria.

10. Spain

By the end of the year, this country also fell victim to the end of the high season - interest in it dropped so much that in just a month Spain moved from the sixth line of the ranking of popular countries to tenth. Also, there was a change in the course of interests of tourists: they switched from the beaches to sightseeing holidays.

In addition, our Russian travelers were also interested in the possibility of resting in Spain during the New Year holidays. The most popular places there were Barcelona, ​​Madrid and Tenerife. Alternatively, users were interested in Goa, Turkey and Greece.

According to the statistics of Rostourism, the top 50 tourist destinations over the past year are expected to be led by Egypt, Thailand and Germany. For independent travelers, the end of the list is much more interesting - countries where the number of Russian tourists is in units, but not those where they do not exist at all (for example, due to military conflicts, epidemics or cataclysms). In the world, only six countries received less than a dozen tourists from Russia in the first half of 2015. Having assumed how they can attract travelers, we have drawn up an alternative travel plan for 2016. The material was prepared with the support of the Tourister.com project.

Thank you for the information provided by the Federal Agency for Tourism.

Mali - 8 tourists

A country without a single tree except for a dozen square kilometers of a national park. In the east of Mali, the scorching sun of the Sahara always remains at the zenith. Under its sands, not one Atlantis of the past is hidden, cities and whole kingdoms have arisen and disappeared here without a trace for the last ten hundred years. The tip of the iceberg of the desert is the semi-fabulous city of Timbuktu, a port among the sands where caravan drivers from all over Africa untied bales of curiosities. European travelers of the first third of the 19th century, one after another, were looking for a trade center in Africa, driven by passion and the promise of a big sum. And when they found them, they literally lost their heads in attempts to get behind the protected walls of Timbuktu, erected with the sole purpose of blocking the path of non-Muslims.

Today, the old town of Timbuktu with adobe mosques, libraries and shopping areas is under the protection of UNESCO and is the most unusual architectural ensemble in West Africa. Each wrinkle in the clay hides horizons of unsolved mysteries from logical paradoxes to astronomical incidents. Even more ancient evidence of the human presence in Mali is the mountain villages of the Dogon country. These tribes were the first to inhabit the territory of the republic and continue to live according to the laws of the Neolithic, while they are photographed on iPhones. Above the dwellings of the Dogons, which have adhered to rocks taller than human growth, there is a five-day trail almost to the neighboring state of Burkina Faso. This is one of the most welcoming hiking trails in the world - the trail changes direction over and over again so that the sun always shines on the traveler's back.

Despite the proximity of the desert, summer in Mali is the rainy season, so depending on the time of year you can find yourself in one of two very different countries. The Republic tops the list of the poorest regions in Africa, but triples the price for all basic tourist amenities. So adventurers traveling to Mali should not be surprised to be sacrificed to post-colonialism and a world without borders.

Iceland - 6 tourists

A nature reserve on the border of the Arctic, on the coast of which icebergs gather in summer, and in winter the northern lights shine instead of the sun. 99% of the population are Icelanders, who, according to the Viking tradition, call each other by their first names - only foreigners have surnames. The second official language of the country is Icelandic Sign Language, in which all important inscriptions and announcements are duplicated. The fact that Icelanders literally live on a volcano does not prevent them from being the happiest people in Europe. If they leave the island, it is only for a while.

Icelanders are born fishermen, here they seriously call herring gold and on weekends they go to the fish market as carefully as to mass. In addition to haukarl - rotten shark meat that is included in all lists of strange national dishes - in Iceland you can taste sea sparrow smoked on a mixture of mountain herbs and sheep dung, pickled seal fins and cod cheeks. If these wonders are not enough, the Torrablout gastronomic festival is held throughout the country in January, where chefs and amateurs cook according to ancient Viking recipes.

Island landscapes explain the phenomenon of Icelandic music - clouds float out of the ground, the ocean rears up in the fountains of geysers, waves of Prussian blue crash on black beaches. Fishing towns share the rocks with bird colonies, and whale callsigns replace train whistles for Icelanders on an island with no railways. Icelanders understand nature, live with it and sometimes even create it themselves. Waste water from Reykjavik's largest refinery fills the Blue Lagoon, an urban swimming pool so clean that people are prescribed prescriptions for swimming.

Republic of Macedonia - 5 tourists

The second poorest country in Europe after neighboring Albania. The main article of local export is the counterfeit legacy of Alexander the Great. For the right to use their own name, Macedonians endure a food blockade and political hairpins from Greece, which refuses to recognize Hellenic roots for a Slavic state with a third of the Muslim population. In response, Macedonia finds more and more evidence of the non-Greek origin of Alexander the Great in the apocrypha, underground treasures and folk signs.

In the center of the capital, Skopje, three years ago, a Greek polis was built, the style of which residents called "historical kitsch". Ironically, the reinforced concrete pantheons, statues with plastics of labor shock workers and reliefs with a plasterboard base only expose the deception of Macedonia and extol objective history. The town-planning epic is crowned by the monument to Alexander the Great, which, however, cannot be called that, since the Macedonians are prohibited from using Greek historical symbols in the public information field. At the same time, on the balance of Macedonia's own, not rigged history, there is the first Cyrillic alphabet and Jerusalem of Orthodoxy, Ottoman rule with ubiquitous baths and nuclear fusion of cultures, the Soviet regime and countless battles for national freedom. However, because of disadvantaged neighbors, package tourists have not yet decided to travel to Macedonia - the resorts are traditionally half empty.

Kuwait - 3 tourists

A Middle Eastern monarchy cornered by Iraq and Saudi Arabia in the Persian Gulf. In practice, this means that Kuwait is washed by the black sea of ​​oil. A citizen of Kuwait can only be born, but every page in a Kuwaiti passport is a lucky lottery ticket. The emir's subjects receive benefits even for living with him in the same generation, and have the right not to think about money while the fire is burning over the drilling rigs.
Moreover, more than half of the country's population are immigrants. They borrow
all auxiliary posts in the country work up to 14 hours a day, so that the gilding does not fly over from the Kuwaiti dream. The Arab fairy tale turns into an oriental parable. There is almost nothing to spend on treasures obtained in Kuwait at someone else's expense. A few cities, scarce for entertainment, are surrounded by a silent desert, and the descendents of nomads exchanged their passion for travel for the weight of wealth. Therefore, they can only watch satellite channels and dream of the inaccessible luxury of foreign millionaires.

The thunderous front of American fighters that caused "Desert Storm" swept away every single oil rig in the kingdom, but over the past 25 years, Kuwait has literally been rebuilt. The tastes of Arab architects are roughly similar to the notions of Russian nouveau riche about aesthetics, so mall cities are all
as one resemble the business quarters of the Moscow City or the mirage of the St. Petersburg Okhta Center. Corteges of expensive cars pass through the streets, thickly smeared with asphalt, between the windows of boutiques, hotel entrances and VIP-halls of restaurants, descendants of the sheikhs from The Thousand and One Nights float. The recent military conflict is reminiscent not only of the photograph of fighters over the scorched oil field, which made the Flickr account of the US Air Force famous, but also periodic military operations and retaliatory attacks. It is understandable that tourists prefer to spend their holidays in quieter neighboring countries, especially since it is not so easy to obtain a tourist visa to Kuwait.

Luxembourg - 2 tourists

A dwarf state in the shape of a wooden galoshes has been pushing Belgium into the North Sea with a kick for a hundred and fifty years. Luxembourg is a geopolitical monument to French arrogance and German tact. The dispute between two empires over a dozen castles of a tiny principality, squeezed between rocks, rapids and oak thickets, was magically resolved in favor of the locals when the Prussians granted them independence in defiance of the whims of the Napoleons. Luxembourg received a clear profile of state borders and freedom of foreign policy, giving in return only a few tons of stone. The fortress walls of the main castle of the principality had to be razed to the ground, spent with the steel of dozens of armies, but never taken by storm. Pretty soon, albeit without powerful walls, Luxembourg again became a stronghold. This time - big money and even more politics. One of the villages in Luxembourg gave the name to the entire Schengen area of ​​open borders, the Adolf Bridge linked the countries of Europe into a single union, and UN secretaries in the capital can be found more often than street musicians.

According to the law of attraction of the masses, tourists often neglect Luxembourg in favor of plump eminent neighbors. Therefore, until now, not everyone knows
that it is in this microspace that two Europeans meet - the star of the Latin quarters and the hostess of a beer tavern. In Luxembourg, Spanish and German cultures are so densely dissolved that they shine like crystals in city squares, under arches of railway stations, at cafe tables and between rows of benches in churches. The Alzet River divides the capital into an Upper and a Lower City - quite in the spirit of magical realism or intellectual mysticism. In the line of brick facades, the colors of paintings and ceramics of tiles are visible, stems and buds make their way through the plates of the parade grounds, and the southern sun is clearly felt in the taste of the wine. It is worth staying in Luxembourg longer than one day on duty to inspect the casemates and the d'Arm square, and the city will appear as the most underestimated European capital.

Faroe Islands - 1 tourist

A theme park for the North Stung - 18 islands in the navel of the Norwegian Sea, covered in fog for 350 days a year, thick and aromatic like steam over a mug of hot ale. So the Vikings drank it, and the Faroe Islands were their northern Tortuga - a haven on the routes of sea voyages. The locals respect their origin and, despite the unspoken title of the outcasts of Europe, remain faithful to the honest pagan way of life. They speak the dialect of Old Norse, the language of the ancient sagas, spend their leisure time doing the arts, slaughter sheep and whales for food, and fundamentally do not participate in the common European political games. There are still two currencies in circulation in the country - the kroon - Danish (formally the Faroes are part of Denmark) and the Faroese - equal to it in value, but incomparable in beauty.

There are almost no trees on the archipelago - the sea winds blow through the Faroes. One of the islands was nicknamed the Flute because of the network of underground caves and galleries in which water secretly meets the wind for hundreds of years. But even without trees, there seems to be too much nature here - Faroese walk on grass and water more often than on asphalt, and in order to distinguish a stream of highways on green pastures, you have to look with all your eyes. Waterfalls run from city to city and plunge into the sea, mixing crystals of glacial water with shreds of sea foam, rocks grow above the fog and low clouds in the Faroe Islands, birds argue with dolphins and seals near the coast, and the plank walls of houses are painted in the colors of a pine cut, lingonberries and moss. On the outskirts of the archipelago there are islands where only a few people live - a family, an elderly couple, a hermit. Tourists are greeted with dignity, without honeyed smiles, especially since people of a special character usually decide on a difficult journey for the romance of the Faroe Islands.

There is no set of sights on duty, as in a computer strategy, but there is beauty to the horizon and unbeaten roads open to either side. Do not be surprised if, dreaming over the flight paths of the hatchet birds, you do not notice a solar eclipse or aurora borealis - this happens all the time in a country where haste is not honored, and conversations begin at low tide, and end with the arrival of the first frost.

The Tourister.com project invites you to join real adventures in different parts of the world. We design trips on our own, inventing new routes: we organize ascents, regattas, motor rallies, ethno-expeditions to places where ordinary tourists do not. Each group is accompanied by an operator who takes photos and videos throughout the trip and then edits a short film. Participants are given branded equipment, and with flags, like a real team, we travel the world. You can join us with friends or alone, choosing an adventure by difficulty, budget, destination, event or date.

Economist, mathematician. 30 years of experience in government statistics. Date: June 11, 2019. Reading time 7 minutes

In 2018, our fellow citizens most often rested in Turkey (1.6%) and Abkhazia (10.7%). They have made almost 42 million trips abroad. Of the 8.9 million Russian tourists, 5.6 million chose abroad. In the Russian Federation, the most popular regions for recreation are the Krasnodar Territory and the Republic of Crimea.

According to the unofficial estimates of experts from the online booking service, Russians go on vacation both in their homeland and in overseas regions. More than half (56%) of Russian citizens have made at least one trip in Russia over the past year, and 29% - abroad. This is not just about a beach holiday. But the choice in favor of the cultural one for our fellow citizens is not uncommon (sightseeing tours in cities, sightseeing). They also visited their friends and relatives. A considerable number of them (39%) went on trips around the country twice, and 17% - three times, abroad - 26 and 14%, respectively.

According to government statistics, domestic travel agents and operators sent 8.9 million people on a trip. More than half of them (63.1%) preferred a vacation abroad.

Table 1. The number of Russian tourists sent on a trip, thousand people

Source: Rosstat

Moreover, the Russians rest not only during the vacation period. They are actively used for trips on weekends on New Year's or May holidays.

Domestic tourism

More and more Russian citizens choose Russian regions for travel. Their share has grown since 2014 from 23.3% of all domestic tourists to 36.9% in 2017. The reasons for this are different:

• an increase in the exchange rate of foreign currencies and, as a result, an increase in the cost of travel abroad;
• a decrease in the level of income of our compatriots;
• new interesting offers from tour operators, new areas of recreation in the country, etc.

According to state statistics, the most popular destinations in 2017 were the Krasnodar Territory and the Republic of Crimea. The interest of our fellow citizens in the metropolitan cities of Moscow and St. Petersburg does not subside.

ATOR experts allow us to estimate the internal organized tourist flow for 2018. Their predictions of zero growth did not come true. It was 8-10%.

Resorts in the south of Russia remain popular: Krasnodar Territory, Crimea and Stavropol Territory. Leadership in excursion demand for:

• St. Petersburg,
• Moscow,
• Kazan,
• Kaliningrad,
• Moscow region,
• cities of the Golden Ring,
• Karelia,
• Veliky Ustyug (in winter).

Among the novelties of excursion tourism:

• Altai, Vladivostok and Khabarovsk from ANEX Tour;
• Kazan, Veliky Novgorod, Kaliningrad, Karelia, Pskov, Tula region, Tver from Intourist;
• Tula, declared the New Year's capital of Russia;
• adventure tours to the Urals.

Travel abroad

The year 2015 was the most difficult year for the country's tourism industry in the entire history of the existence of private business in our country. The flow of tourists abroad decreased by 31% compared to the previous 2014 (from 42,921 thousand trips to 34,390 thousand). Tour operators had to face a sharp drop in demand for travel packages abroad. The de facto ban on organized travel to Egypt and Turkey played an important role. Many regional offices were closed.

Many Russians have temporarily decided to give up their holiday abroad. The consequences of which have been felt by more than one country. To return the Russian tourist back, they are ready to make concessions, even financially help our companies. And potential travelers from our country are promised discounts in hotels, reimbursement of expenses, settlements in rubles, even entry without a passport. The measures taken have had their effect.

Having decreased by another 8% in 2016, the tourist flow began to grow. At the end of 2018, 41,964 thousand trips were recorded.

The number of Russians sent abroad by travel agencies is also growing. Official statistics are published only for 2017.

The Association of Tour Operators of Russia (ATOR) estimates the number of Russian citizens who left the country on tour packages for 9 months of 2018, within 12 million.

table2. The number of Russian tourists who went on tours in Russia and abroad

Source: Rosstat

For information ... Since 2014, the counting of tourists has been carried out by Rosstat in accordance with the recommendationsUNWTO(World Tourism Organization), which refers to those who declare the purpose of the trip in this way, as well as those who travel by private invitation, for treatment, on business, for food or other goods to a neighboring country, etc.

Table 3. The number of outbound tourist trips of Russian citizens abroad

	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018
Total, thousand	42921	34390	31659	39629	41964
from them to countries:
Europe
Finland	4283	3067	2894	3333	3361
Ukraine	2558	1657	1804	2283	2290
Estonia	1775	1477	1511	1728	1798
Germany	1435	1111	1057	1229	1297
Poland	1608	1322	1104	1230	1093
Italy	994	662	710	893	1086
Spain	1140	693	790	929	961
Greece	1165	634	782	856	808
Asia
Turkey	4216	3460	797	4520	5719
Abkhazia	3282	3824	4257	4344	4496
Kazakhstan	3330	3125	2850	2978	2955
China	1731	1284	1676	2003	2018
Georgia	532	651	742	1003	1233
Thailand	1250	675	867	1094	1173
Africa
Tunisia	260	49	624	520	611
Egypt	2880	2244	0,3	0,4	0
America
Dominican Republic	163	36	132	230	217
USA	310	237	225	238	213
Cuba	54	32	45	75	106

Source: Rosstat

In-demand destinations

According to statistics published by Rosstat, 22.6 million trips were made to the countries included in the TOP-7 in 2018, which is 53.9% of the annual tourist flow. In 2014 - 22.3 million and 52%, respectively.

Turkey, Abkhazia, Finland, Ukraine, Estonia, and Kazakhstan are still attractive to Russians. Of these, our tourists showed an increased interest in the following destinations: Abkhazia (137% by 2014) and Turkey (135.6%).

On the contrary, over 4 years the flow decreased to Ukraine (by 10.5%), Kazakhstan (by 11.3%), Finland (by 21.5%)

An excursion into history

The very first example of Soviet outbound (or foreign) tourism falls on 1930, when 257 shock workers of the first five-year plan went on a cruise trip around Europe on the motor ship "Abkhazia". Their route included: Leningrad – Danzig – Hamburg – Naples – Constantinople – Odessa – Moscow.

Until the second half of the 1950s, which is almost a quarter of a century, there was no foreign tourism in the country of Soviets.

It was possible to travel abroad from Soviet Russia mainly via Intourist. But since 1958, the Bureau of International Youth Tourism (BMMT) "Sputnik" has also taken up this work.

Until 1985, the trips of citizens from the USSR were not reflected in any way in state statistics. It is possible to provide only information on the number of tourist trips abroad:

• 1987 – 920;
• 1988 – 1041;
• 1989 – 1650;
• 1990 – 2150.

Moreover, it is not possible to single out data on the RSFSR.

Forecasts

ATOR analysts predict that in 2019 20% of domestic travel companies will leave the market, which do not have reserves for a rainy day. The reason for this is the reduction in the income of the population. The role of large organizations will increase, and small and medium-sized ones will be hit.

It is assumed that Russians in 2019 will continue to save on travel abroad:

• reduce rest periods;
• book holidays in low season;
• choose cheaper hotels;
• will pay attention to the resorts of Russia.

In the TOP-5 domestic destinations, we will again see the Krasnodar Territory, Crimea, Moscow, St. Petersburg and Kazan.

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