Russian Tourist Flow to UAE to Fall by 40% in First Quarter of 2015

DUBAI, January 16 (Sputnik) — The number of Russian tourists to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will fall by up to 40 percent in the first quarter of 2015 owing to economic difficulties, but the drop will only affect budget tourism, Russia's consul general in Dubai and Northern Emirates told RIA Novosti on Friday.

“Tourist flows [from Russia to UAE] began to drop, but so far this is only happening in the budget segment. … We forecast that the tourist flow from Russia will decrease by 30 to 40% in the first quarter of the year [2015],” Gocha Buachidze said.

The senior Russian diplomat believes that the decline is only temporary. “No one will take the niche occupied by Russian tourists in the UAE,” Buachidze said, adding that the number of weekly flights from Russia to UAE almost tripled in the past two years, reaching 124 flights in October 2014.

“Starting from 2009 after the crisis of 2008 there was a certain decrease in the number of Russian tourists [visiting UAE] but starting from 2010 the tourist flow has been growing exponentially. New budget carriers appeared on the market, conducting direct flights from various Russian cities to Shardzha, Dubai and Ras al-Khaimah,” the diplomat said.

Various travel market studies rank that Russia alongside the United Kingdom, the United States and Germany as countries most important to the UAE's tourism industry.

Russia's economy is currently experiencing a slowdown due mainly to a dramatic decline in oil prices. The depreciation of the ruble has led many Russians to change their holidays plans in favor of domestic tourism.