The Impact of Missing Russia and Ukraine Outbound Tourists

With Russia’s airspace closed to over 30 destinations and the ongoing war on Ukraine, it’s clear that the prolonged absence of travelers from these two destinations will be felt well beyond Europe.

In 2019 alone, Russian travelers took over 40 million trips, making up one of the fastest growing outbound markets as the sixth highest international visitor spending globally and an increasingly resilient market for beach destinations such as Turkey, Cyprus and India.

Of course, it's still too early to say just how much it will pinch these destinations but the loss of those tourists when a recovery is just getting started will be a setback.

When the pandemic upended travel for more than a year, Russian and Ukrainian travelers were among the few who fearlessly explored as soon as destinations reopened to them and eased entry. This meant heading farther afield for a handful of less likely warm weather destinations outside of Europe.

Some were pre-pandemic favorites such as the Dominican Republic, Goa and Egypt, while others were newer in interest, such as the United Arab Emirates, Tanzania, and the Maldives.

These tourism economies were banking this year on the ongoing rush of Russian as well as the growing number of Ukrainian visitors to their shores. For most, it was a promise of speedier recovery in a shaky post-pandemic travel landscape.  

But now that both the Russian and Ukrainian outbound markets have stopped, just how much impact will there be for these beach destinations? And how are some pivoting to soften the blow as tourism once again bears the brunt of an expected crisis with global repercussions?

There was indeed good reason to be optimistic about the increased flow of Russian and Ukrainian travelers this year.

By the close of 2021, Russian travelers had become the primar