How the country’s tourism industry is doing
The tourism industry has been hit hardest by inflation and sanctions. Profile Associations claim that the industry is growing every year, including international tourism. However, travel agents note that Russians today prefer travelling within their own country and to the CIS countries. Prices are to blame for everything, even Turkey and Egypt have turned into luxury, while in Russia itself there are still not enough luxury places to vacation. Which countries Tatarstan residents fly to for holidays today, how many tourists visited the republic in 2024 and how the industry overcomes sanctions — in the review of the analytical service of Realnoe Vremya.
Tourism is recovering
Experts of the Russian Union of Tourism Industry estimated that by the end of 2023 the domestic tourist flow in Russia reached 78 million trips, which is by 20% more than in 2022. The volume of outbound tourism also increased by 16.4% last year — a total of 8.1 million people went on vacation abroad. The tourism industry last year, according to Rosstat, provided services for more than 4.3 trillion rubles, which is one and a half times more than in the pre-pandemic 2019.
The tourist flow abroad in January — September 2024 also grew, ATOR claims. The Association refers to data from the Border Guard Service of the FSB of Russia, according to which, in January-September 2024, Russian citizens made more than 22 million trips to foreign countries. This is by 7% more than in the same months last year, but by 39.6% less than in the first three quarters of the pre-2019 year.
Almost half of the total outbound flow (47.14% of trips) accounted for 32 non-CIS countries in Asia and North Africa (plus one European country — Serbia), which can be attributed to destinations with a predominantly tourist nature of trips. According to the Border Service, in January-September 2024, Russians made 10.6 million trips to these countries, which is by 20% more than for the same group of countries in January-September 2023.
Almost half (about 45%) of the total outbound tourist flow from Russia in 2024 is occupied by Turkey, which is the undisputed leader with a three-fold or more gap from competitors. China and the UAE (a significant share of tourist trips to these countries is transit) have about 12% each, Abkhazia — about 11%, Thailand — about 10%, Egypt — 9%.
The Association of Tour Operators of Russia forecasts that the domestic tourist flow in 2024 will also grow by 10-15% compared to 2023, coming very close to 90 million trips. The Ministry of Economic Development estimates the potential for an increase in domestic tourism to 140 million trips a year. To do this, it is planned to allocate more than 400 billion rubles for the national tourism project by 2030. These funds will be used to create and modernise infrastructure — the construction of new and repair of existing hotels and sanatoriums, the construction of roads and communications to tourist sites, the creation of new points of attraction. In addition, market participants have access to various government incentives: preferential loans and subsidies, preferential land allocation, and VAT exemptions.
People travel abroad less
Compared to last year, prices have increased for Turkey, the UAE and Egypt. “This segment will sink, but I can’t say how much. Maybe by 5-10%,” he forecasts.
Today, tourists are shifting from more expensive European destinations to Asian ones. “The Chinese flight that we have through Shanghai is actually 90-100% loaded. This suggests that people are flying to Southeast Asia. Tickets are now comparable, and maybe cheaper, than to Europe. And hotels in Southeast Asia are cheaper than in European cities.”
However, the most inhibiting factor for travelling in Europe is a visa. “On average, the visa application process takes 60 or more days from submission to receipt,” says Miftakhov. “In addition to submitting documents, you also have to make an appointment, which takes about 20 days.”
The number one country in terms of the number of travellers departing from Tatarstan is the Emirates. Fly Dubai and Air Arabia fly daily from Kazan. The second most popular destination is Egypt. Egypt follows the all-inclusive system, which everyone loves, but prices for Egypt have increased this year, and the volume of traffic, compared with the pre-pandemic periods, is low. The third most popular destination from Tatarstan is Thailand and Sri Lanka.
“If we talk about the Chinese direction through Shanghai, then people fly there themselves, there are no package stories, and trips with purely tourist purposes are more difficult to identify, 70-80 percent of passengers on flights to Shanghai are transit passengers,” Ramil Miftakhov notes.
At the same time, the tourist attractiveness of Kazan itself is certainly growing every year, as the figures show: “Tourists vote with their money. And Tatarstan needs to continue working on this.”
Working in tourism has turned into a quest
“For the last 10-15 years, tourists have preferred to fly directly without transfers from Kazan. There are now 15 such foreign countries, including the former USSR countries — Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan. There are also exotic destinations — Sri Lanka, Egypt, China. Of course, our top destinations are Turkey and the UAE. There are a large number of flights from Kazan to these destinations. There are also Serbia and Istanbul, through which our tourists mostly fly to Europe,” said Sergey Pasechnik, the founder of CompAnion SP travel company.
The BRICS summit held this year brought new prospects to Kazan, with the development of new hotels, road interchanges, and attractive new landmarks. However, on the other hand, about a month before the BRICS event, tourism in Kazan was not encouraged. There was an increased presence of security, and many people who had the opportunity left Tatarstan to avoid traffic jams.
“On the one hand, the situation in the tourism industry is difficult, but on the other hand, it is promising,” he concluded.
Tourists have missed travelling
The list of foreign countries available to Russian tourists in the current conditions is not so large, she notes. “As long as sanctions are in place for Russian airlines, the possibilities of flights abroad will be limited,” says Shilina. “But we cannot but be pleased with the fact that trips to the regions of Russia have become more affordable financially thanks to charter transportation. If earlier it was as easy and affordable to fly to Sochi and St. Petersburg as it is now, then trips to Lake Baikal or Altai were not available to everyone. In addition, with the increase in the flow of domestic tourism, accommodation conditions are also improving.”
“According to my personal observations, I can already say that 2024 will end better than 2023 in terms of sales volume. I think the statistics by the end of 2024 will show an increase in both domestic and outbound tourism. For example, according to the Russian Union of Tourism Industry, the summer season of 2024 showed an increase in domestic tourist traffic by 10-30% compared to 2023,” Shilina noted.
The main leaders among the destinations with direct flights from Kazan are Turkey, Egypt, the UAE and Thailand. “Since last year, direct charter flights to Sri Lanka have appeared from Kazan, and this year the long-awaited India has returned to us. In addition, our tourists fly to Cuba, Maldives, Seychelles, Mauritius, but this is no longer the bulk of people,” the travel agent added.
Unfortunately, everything is not so joyful with trips to Europe, primarily due to the high cost of air tickets and the lack of direct flights from Russian cities. “In addition, the procedure for obtaining a Schengen visa has become longer, more expensive and more complicated. Accordingly, not as many people as before can afford a vacation in Europe,” she says.
Sochi, St. Petersburg and Kaliningrad remain the leaders in domestic destinations. The number of requests for Karelia, Altai, Dagestan and Chechnya has increased.Trips to the near abroad — Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan — are also beginning to gain momentum. “If many people had already visited Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan before the pandemic, then these countries began to arouse new interest,” she noted.
Prices are rising, including due to the high cost of flights. The number of aircraft with the ability to fly abroad has decreased. For example, if in 2019 the capacity of Russian airlines exceeded the needs of passengers, then in 2024 the shortage of carrying capacity on international routes is about 27%.
In addition, flight routes have changed, travel time has increased and, accordingly, fuel consumption has increased. High inflation around the world is also affecting tourism. It affects the industry and the exchange rate. “If you look at the currency value of foreign trips, you can’t say that prices have become two or three times higher. But if you convert it into rubles, then the difference is noticeable,” Shilina notes.
“The tourist flow to Tatarstan is also increasing every year. Both Russians and foreigners come to us. I am very pleased with the work of the State Committee for Tourism of the Republic of Tatarstan and the very fact of the presence of the Visit Tatarstan brand,” says Shilina. “Tatarstan’s tourism potential is huge, we have excellent infrastructure and comfortable conditions for tourists. And a large number of international events adds interest to our republic. I get a lot of enthusiastic reviews about Kazan and the republic from my friends and colleagues, and not only from Russia.”
Julia Garaeva
