Andalucia goes to Russia

THE Russian Crisis is taking its toll on Spanish tourism destinations, even becoming a serious issue in coastal areas of Catalonia and the Canary Islands, which were the places traditionally chosen by a larger amount of Russians to spend their holidays.

However, Andalucia seems to have been able to escape this negative trend and, despite a decrease by 38 per cent in the number of Russian visitors who arrive in the whole of Spain, the Andalucian region has in fact experienced an increase of 2 per cent between January and July 2015, according to the data released by the regional government Tourism Department.

Head of the Department, Francisco Javier Fernandez, said the region needs to make the most out of this advantage to turn Andalucia into a preferred destination for Russian tourists, once this country has overcome its financial issues.

This is why, the Junta de Andalucia regional government is taking action and, with a budget of €350,000, they are to create a series of measures to increase Spanish presence in the country. Specifically, the Red Square (Moscow) is to host until September 13 the Andalucian Equestrian Art Show together with the Equestrian school of the Kremlin. In addition, the Travel and Tourism Fair of Moscow is to be celebrated until September 18 where meetings are expected to be held to draw deals beneficial to the region. Finally, until October 15, a campaign will run in the two main cities of the country (Moscow and Saint Petersburg), to reinforce the image of Andalucia as the perfect destination.

The Russian tourist spends on average €165 per day, as opposed to less than €70 spent by the majority of other nationalities on average, and they are also valuable as they spend more than two weeks on average at their destination. They are also shown to travel both in the low and high season.

“This market would add strategic value to our offer and profitability,” said Mr Fernandez.