Q & A with Alexander V. Radkov, Deputy Minister of Tourism, Sports and Youth for the Russian Federation

To mark Russia’s Day and the grand opening of its high-peak travel season, the Russian embassy in Madrid launched “Russia: Travel Choices”, a presentation pieced together by different travel industry companies that was attended by the country’s deputy minister of Tourism, Sports and Youth, Alexander Radkov. In an exclusive interview with Caribbean News Digital, this is what Mr. Radkov had to say.

Q.- How many Spanish tourists are traveling to Russia on a yearly basis?
A.- Over 105,000 Spaniards visited Russia in 2008, up a staggering 30 percent from 2007. The figures on the first quarter of 2009 reveal a 50 percent increase from the first months of 2008. This is a very encouraging trend and we hope the flow of Spanish travelers into Russia won’t slow down in the course of 2009. We’re going at great lengths to provide the most advanced and safest conditions to guarantee Spanish trippers a superb travel experience in Russia.

Q.- What outcomes are you foreseeing for the end of this year?
A.- The first quarter has been pretty good and promising, yet I think it’s still a little bit too early to talk about yearend numbers. We have to wait until the high-peak travel season is over and perhaps we could make a few projections by autumn.

Q.- Do those efforts include promotional and advertising campaigns?
A.- As a matter of fact, we’re now launching intense campaigns in at least five countries of Western Europe: Spain, Italy, UK, Germany and France.

Q.- How do you see the road ahead in the face of the ongoing international economic crisis?
A.- There’s no doubt the crisis also brings ripple effects on Russia’s travel industry, as in the rest of the world. But a crisis is a fleeting phenomenon. We can’t say when it’s going to be over, but we can say Russia’s tourism market has shown resiliency and stability in recent months. Russian tourists keep traveling both all across their homeland and around the entire world. However, they now prefer cheaper, shorter staycations, so fewer people are making vacation trips out of Russia. On the other hand, this trend is also catching on in other countries as well. Nonetheless, we Russians still love sallying forth around the world and I truly don’t think this crisis could end up undermining our travel and tourism sector.