Desire to Travel Drops Among Russian Nationals As EU Calls on Imposing Coordinated Sanctions
Russian nationals are planning fewer trips to Europe this autumn, with 59 per cent of respondents saying they don’t plan to travel at all, while less than one quarter (24 per cent) say they will visit the zone, down from 36 per cent in 2021.
According to the European Travel Commission (ETC), the decrease in desire to travel to Europe has been converted to a desire to travel outside the zone, as 17 per cent of 1,000 Russian respondents claimed, up from 11 per cent recorded in the Autumn of 2021, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.
Furthermore, findings from the study show that the main reasons why Russians don’t intend to travel are that they don’t have travelling plans for this period (18 per cent), high costs to travel to Europe (ten per cent), government advice on travel (eight per cent), fear of hostility and anti-Russian sentiment (eight per cent).
Another four per cent cited they cannot visit Europe as their preferred destinations are currently closed for Russian travellers, while two per cent of respondents claimed that the absence of direct flights to Europe is discouraging them from travelling. Instead, Russians might travel to CIS countries, including Armenia, Belarus, Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Tajikstan, Uzbekistan, and Moldova.
“Among the Russians not planning to travel outside the CIS or planning to travel but not to Europe, 46 per cent share that the current situation negatively impacted their interest in visiting the region in the next months; 40 per cent say that Europe remains an attractive destination and they would revisit it in the future; while 14 per cent state that they will replace Europe with other close-by destinations in the next months,” the study reads.
As per preferred destinations and transport alternatives, 45 per cent of Russian respondents said they want to visit more than one European country – two of those, on average. The main reasons for picking these destinations are the destinations’ safety to visit (43 per cent), high quality of tourism (34 per cent), direct transport (27 per cent), pleasant weather (24 per cent), and fully lifted travel restrictions (24 per cent).
The top ten countries that Russians would like to visit are Turkey (22 per cent), Germany (17 per cent), Italy (16 per cent), Greece (15 per cent), France (12 per cent), Cyprus, and Finland (11 per cent), Spain and the Czech Republic (nine per cent). The list is concluded with Serbia, Montenegro, and Austria, with eight per cent, seven per cent, and six per cent of respondents picking these destinations, respectively.
The majority of respondents say they will not travel alone due to the war in Ukraine, and they need to visit places with no civil unrest that can be easily accessed by direct transport route. Visiting multiple destinations isn’t very appealing to these nationals in the upcoming months.
