Due to the European blockade and the closure of the skies for Russian aircraft in Thailand, a boom in tourist activity may occur. Travelers from Russia will travel less this year to Cyprus, an important destination for the Russian outbound market, according to GlobalData, but Thailand could host more than 435,000 Russians in 2022.
The complexity of the world
While Europe has closed its ties with Russia, the planes of Russian companies can no longer fly in the European space, this decision may well please people.
Taking advantage of communicating ships, Thailand’s tourism could see strong growth in Russian tourists in 2022.
In the opposite direction, Cyprus, usually one of the federation’s favorite destinations, is likely to experience a tougher tourist season. According to Global Data, the number of visitors to the island is expected to decrease by 42.6% in 2022 compared to the previous year.
On the other side of the globe, in Thailand, the number of Russian travelers will increase from 10,000 in 2021 to 435,000 in 2022, according to the same source.
Thailand: Russians will challenge the country
“Thailand is ready to fully open its borders to international tourists this year, without the need for a negative PCR test before leaving. In addition, it has not imposed any restrictions on Russia due to the current geopolitical crisis with Ukraine.
At the same time, Thailand acknowledged that it now has the potential to become a top destination for Russian travelers in the coming years.
Indeed, it will be necessary to increase the number of direct flights from Russia, as well as to ensure the possibility and accounting of payments in tourist places, while a large number of Russian banks have been excluded from the Swift system.
The Minister of Commerce of Thailand said that Thai banks have shown interest in a Russian proposal to introduce the Mir payment system for Russian travelers in Thailand.
In 2021, Russian travelers will spend a total of $22.5 billion, placing Russia in the top ten in the world in terms of total outbound tourism spending. Thus, Thailand could benefit significantly from the EU travel ban on Russians, as the current crisis is forcing that market to change its preferred destinations.