Due to the weakening of the ruble, thousands of tourists from China have flocked to Russia
Beijing – Kyiv, December 22 (PolitNavigator, Vasily Ablyazimov) – The weakening ruble has made tourism in Russia more affordable. Many Chinese chose vacations and excursions in Russia over Western Europe this winter, reports China Daily.
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“Chinese travelers have been flocking to Russia in recent days... Winter is generally not the season for Russian tourism. Some Chinese travel agencies completely stop selling tours to this country between October and June. But this winter, due to the depreciation of the ruble, the enthusiasm of Chinese travelers in the northern direction has increased sharply,” the newspaper reports.
The Tongcheng travel agency in Suzhou introduced travel services to Russia for the first time. In December, the agency received 113% more orders for tours to Russia than in November. “The number of orders and inquiries has increased sharply,” says Liu Qing, chief executive officer of Tongcheng Agency's Tourism Department.
Ctrip.com International, the largest online travel agency in China, announced a 100% increase in interest in Russian tours. Dai Yu, director of Ctrip's marketing department, sees the reason that winter tours to Russia have become 60% more affordable due to the jump in the dollar.
Group tours to Russia for Chinese typically last six to eight days and cost between 5000 and 8000 yuan ($815 to $1300), much cheaper than tours to Western Europe.
Travel agencies said Russia would be a popular choice for Chinese tourists during the seven-day Spring Festival holiday, a traditional Chinese holiday.
The tourism business is the most important sector of the world economy, since, along with direct trade in tours, it includes related service industries. China is the main source of tourists to Russia. In the first 9 months of 2014, their number increased by 10%.
Russian version :: Read in English Due to the weakening ruble, thousands of tourists from China are flocking to Russia.