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Government figures show substantial increases in the numbers of Tourists that visited International destinations. Recently announced Governmental figures confirm that the number of Russian Tourists increased by over 60% and are now higher than the pre-crisis levels of 1997. Almost 4.5 million Russians departed Russia for Tourist trips in 2000 while the total number of departures including Business Trips, Personal Visits etc indicates that in excess of 18 million visits abroad could be recorded. The figures represent a major indicator of the country's political and economic situation indicating growth to many Tourist destinations. "It reflects the well being of our country as our growth percentage is above Europe's annual average of 3%" said a spokeswoman from the Economic Development and Trade Ministry. The two top destinations in numbers are Poland and China but these are mainly due to the vast number of 'shuttle traders' that cross the borders regularly. Detailed statistics will be indicated in the next issue. Incoming Tourism to Russia decreases Also indicated in the figures recently released was a decrease in the total number of Tourists visiting Russia. Whilst the number of International visitors actually increased by 15% the numbers of visitors from the CIS countries dropped dramatically. However Russia can still record 21 million arrivals with Business Travel increasing 9% to almost 2 million visitors. Whilst many hotels in Moscow and St.Petersburg are now able to report that sales are returning to the pre-crisis sales, tourism is still slow to develop into the regions with the exception of the Golden Ring.  |
