Outbound tourism from Russia up one-fourth in 2024

MOSCOW. Feb 6 (Interfax) - Russians made more than 29 million trips abroad in 2024, including 11.5 million for tourism purposes, which is a 25% increase from 2023, according to the statistics of the Russian Federal Security Service's Border Guard Service.

The total number of Russians' trips abroad increased by seven percent from 2023, the agency said.

The leading destination for all purposes was Turkey, where 6.2 million trips were made. It is followed by Abkhazia (5.81 million), Kazakhstan (2.81 million), the United Arab Emirates (1.99 million), and China (1.89 million).

The top ten destinations also include Egypt (1.47 million), Georgia (1.35 million), Thailand (1.32 million), Armenia (967,700), and Azerbaijan (709,300).

The top tourist destination is also Turkey, where 4.48 million travelers from Russia vacationed, which is nine percent more than in 2023. It is followed by the United Arab Emirates with 1.47 million trips (a 13.4% increase from 2023) and Egypt with 1.19 million Russian tourists, which is a 16.3% increase from 2023.

The top ten leading destinations also include China (almost 1.02 million), Thailand (935,700), Abkhazia (513,900), Armenia (320,640), Georgia (244,180), and Azerbaijan (230,870).

The second top ten leading destinations in 2024 included Cuba (130,600), Sri Lanka (114,900), Maldives (102,890), Serbia (90,600), Qatar (79,900), India (62,000), Kyrgyzstan (58,400), Vietnam (30,100), Israel (26,900), and Tajikistan (20,400).

The Association of Tour Operators of Russia (ATOR) said some popular foreign destinations take not only tourists, but also transit passengers, who are not included in the statistics and are added to the country's inbound tourism.

"The share of flights with connections in international tourism from Russia is already quite big, it started growing actively in 2022. And for destinations where the share of arrivals by Russians on flights with connections is high, it is more correct to count the statistics of Russians leaving for these countries, not the departure statistics of the Border Guard Service," the association said.

Most trips to the CIS states are not for tourism purposes, ATOR said.