Over 15.3 million Russian tourists traveled abroad in 2012 — 6 percent more than in the previous year, the Federal Tourism Agency said in a statement Monday.
Turkey retained its top position as the destination of choice for 2.5 million Russian tourists, followed by Egypt with 1.9 million visitors.
China and Thailand were the most frequently visited countries in South East Asia, coming third and fourth in the overall list with 1.3 million and 885,000 visitors from Russia, respectively, while Spain, which was fifth, became the favorite European destination with 792,000 travelers coming from Russia.
The report based on data provided by the Federal Statistics Service showed that tourist traffic to Japan increased by 89 percent, to Slovakia by 70 percent, to Romania by 61 percent and by 43 percent to Tunisia.
(MT)