According to the data revealed by the Russian Border Guard Service, in the first half of 2021 (January-June), Russian citizens made 6,787,244 trips abroad.
The number of international trips decreased by 15.4% compared to 2020 and by 68% compared to the same period of 2019.
According to the Association of Tour Operators of Russia (ATOR) When non touristic destinations such as Abkhazia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan are excluded from the list, Turkey is the clear leader in outbound touristic visits with 806,212 passengers, while the United Arab Emirates took the second place with 294,494 trips, and Southern Cyprus took the third place with 172,671 passengers.
Other countries in the top 10 are Egypt, Maldives, Tanzania, Cuba, Serbia, Greece and Tunisia.
While number of visitors to Turkey increased by 135% compared to the first half of last year, it is still far from the pre-pandemic period.
Russia had restricted flights to Turkey from mid-April to June 22.
Recent statistics from Turkish Ministry of Tourism, shows that the number of Russian tourists entering Turkey was 746,724 in the first half. The difference of 59,500 passengers between the two statistics is thought to be due to Russian transit passengers going from Turkey to other countries.
