The global tourism movement is heading towards recovery, yet Russian travelers are out of tune due to the Russian-Ukrainian war, as well as the repercussions of the economic situation.
A poll conducted by the European Travel Commission revealed that the war between Russia and Ukraine impeded the desire to travel.
The advisor to the World Tourism Organization, Saeed al-Batouti, said that the opinion poll confirmed that 60 percent of Russians who were surveyed do not plan to travel outside the Commonwealth countries.
The survey stated that 24 percent of those surveyed had no travel plans at all, and 13 percent would not travel because they could not afford to.
Another fundamental aspect that prevents Russians from traveling and may require special attention and management in the future is the fear of anti-Russian sentiment, which was a reason for 10 percent of the respondents to avoid traveling – especially to Europe and America at the present time.
Harder to be a Russian tourist
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Russian travel landscape has changed dramatically.
Russian airspaces have closed, national airlines have canceled international operations, and the weak ruble has turned travel into a costly business.
The rising cost of living is expected to put more pressure on the purchasing power of Russian travelers.
Batouti explained that the available figures show that during the first quarter of 2022, tourist destinations around the world received 117 million tourists, an increase of 182 percent over the same period last year, during which the number of tourists was 41 million.
It is expected that the number of international tourists globally this year will reach between 55 percent and 70 percent of 2019 levels.
This depends on various circumstances including the rate of destinations continuing to lift travel restrictions, the possibility of new mutations from coronavirus, developments in the war in Ukraine and economic conditions caused by the war – especially inflation, energy prices and disruption of global supply chains, which leads to high costs of transportation and accommodation for the tourism sector.
