Association of Tour Operators of Russia (ATOR) analyzed the dynamics of outbound tourist flow of the Russians during the first six months of 2010. According to Federal State Statistics, the number of outbound tourists during the first six months increased by 43% in comparison with 2009. 

Some share of passenger traffic of charter flights will be redirected from Moscow to the airports of Novosibirsk and Yekaterinburg, announced Vladimir Tasun, Director of the Department of State Policy in Civil Aviation of the Ministry of Transport.

H.E. Ambassador of the Russian Federation in London Yury Fedotov declared that visa regime between Russia and the United Kingdom should be simplified, reported Interfax. Such measures can be stipulated by the high indicators of the tourist exchange between our countries in 2009.

ATOR Analytical Service made a presentation based on the data of Czech Statistics Office and TOURMARKET.INFO monitoring system of the price of competitors.

The popularity of Tallinn has been growing among the Russians. The number of the Russian visitors increased by 47% during the first six months of 2010 amounting to 15 500 people.

About 190 thousand Russians visited Austria during the first six months of the year and it’s for 26% more than during the same period of last year, reports Austrian National tourist Office. Russian citizens stayed for almost 853 thousand nights during the period from January to July 2010 (+18.5% in comparison with the same period of last year).

Egypt and Turkey became the leaders in number of insured events. Such conclusions can be made by ROSNO statistics of the first six months of 2010.

According to the statistics of Consulate General of Greece in Moscow, the number of issued visas for the Russians increased by more than 50% during the period from January to July 2010 in comparison with the same period of last year. Meanwhile, the number of visas issued in June 2010 increased by almost 64% in comparison with June 2009 and increased by more than 56% in July in comparison with the same period of 2009. 

Croatia has a chance to make up for the results of last year. The demand for spending holidays in this country increased by 30%. The operators shared their conclusions concerning the season.  

The demand for the tours to Bulgaria shows pre-crisis indicators. However, according to the tour operators, the popularity of the this destination can be explained by the fact, that the majority of the people who traveled to more expensive European countries had to reorient themselves to Bulgaria due to the cut in revenues.

Thankfully, the situation with wildfires around Moscow is getting extremely better day by day. The Muscovites and the guests of the city are able to breathe fresh air and enjoy the August sun.

According to ATOR Analytical Service this season Russia has taken the 3rd place for the tourist flow to Thailand among the European countries. Such conclusion is based on the statistics of the Ministry of Tourism and Sport of Thailand and also according to the data of TourIndex system, AllSpo.ru and TopHotels.ru.

We would like to inform that the situation with the smoke in Moscow has changed. Heavy showers poured during the night. Now the sky is clear blue and there is no any smell of smoke in the city.

ATOR (Association of Tour Operators of Russia) informs all Travel Agencies and Tour Operators sending tourists to Russia, that the ecological situation in Moscow caused by the wildfires in suburbs is getting better.

Unceasing heat and wildfires favour mass “escape” of the Muscovites from the capital. The people are so tired of acrid smoke that they are dreaming to go anyplace away from the city. Weekend tours are popular for those who can’t take long holidays and long trips are popular for the others.