12% in the first months of 2007
The Balearic Islands received a total of 15.769 Russian tourists during the first seven months of 2007 - between January and July - which represents an increase of 12,4 percent compared to the same period of the previous year, according to the Balearic Ministry of Tourism.
The Balearic Institute of Tourism (Ibatur) held a working meeting yesterday in St. Petersburg (Russia) with 67 travel agents, tour operators and specialized press to promote the Balearic Islands as a tourist destination.
The meeting was attended by more than 125 people, who learned firsthand about all the tourist offerings of our islands.
According to data from the Spanish Tourism Office (OET) in Moscow, Russia is the European country with the highest growth in outbound tourism and Spain is its third tourist destination, after Turkey and Egypt.
The "Russian tourist" has high purchasing power and a lot of spending capacity, and the forecast is that this year their influx in Spain will grow between 15 and 20 percent, while the Balearic Islands received a total of 27.777 Russian tourists last year, 27,4 percent more than in 2005.
As happened at the meeting held by Ibatur a few days ago in Moscow, the tourism embassy in St. Petersburg was preceded by a workshop where attendees made professional contacts with companies in the Balearic tourism sector that travel with Ibatur.
The Director General of Tourism Promotion, Joan Sastre, explained to the participants the attractions that the islands offer to Russian tourists and encouraged all travel agents to promote the Balearic Islands as a tourist destination among their clients.
The Russian market - the regional ministry assures - is an emerging market with very good future prospects, especially now that the processing of visas needed by tourists to travel to Spain has been significantly expedited.
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