Nizhny Novgorod Oblast entered the top 10 regions by the number of trips abroad.

      16 September 2025 10:48

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      This summer 13% more residents of Nizhny Novgorod traveled abroad than last year. Interest in African and Asian countries grew significantly — 40% and 32% respectively. At the same time, Turkey remains the most popular country — both for vacations and for transit connections. These conclusions were reached by MegaFon analysts after studying anonymized subscriber data.

      By number of travelers this summer, the Nizhny Novgorod region ranked eighth in the rating, surpassing Tatarstan, Krasnodar and Stavropol Krais, Novosibirsk and Tyumen regions. In total over the summer, residents of Nizhny Novgorod visited 158 countries.

      The most in-demand destinations for tourists from Nizhny Novgorod, apart from Turkey, were Belarus, Kazakhstan, Abkhazia and Georgia. Countries in Asia showed a substantial increase in tourist flow, especially Vietnam (+282% compared to last summer). In Africa the absolute leader is Egypt, which is also among the top five most popular vacation destinations for Nizhny Novgorod residents, having increased by 36% compared to last year. In the Middle East, besides Turkey, the top three included the UAE (+7%) and Saudi Arabia (+68%).

      Turkey, in addition to being the main country for vacations, is also the most popular place for transit flights: the number of transfers there increased by almost a third. Istanbul predictably became a key hub for Russians. Kazakhstan ranks second in the list of countries for transfers, however most routes through the republic from the Russian Federation to other countries travel by land rather than by air. China took third place: compared to last summer, transfers there increased by more than 20%.

      Transit via the UAE remains popular: the country ranks fourth for transfers, their number growing by 10%. Serbia confidently holds a place in the top five countries for transfers, however the number of transit trips through the country's capital Belgrade fell by 8.5% compared to 2024.

      Qatar is rapidly losing popularity as a transit hub for Russians: the number of transfers there has decreased threefold. Transit through other Middle Eastern countries, such as Kuwait and Jordan, is also decreasing by 28%.

      In Europe, Italy, France and Spain were visited more often. Almost the entire tourist flow to North America fell on the USA and Cuba (a total of 90%). At the same time the USA grew by 53%, while Cuba fell by 40%. In South America more than half of tourists visited Brazil and Argentina, and compared to last summer the tourist flow there grew by 28%.

      Russians’ holidays abroad became shorter, but they began to fly more often. If in the summer of 2024 a vacation lasted on average 10 days, this summer it was 7. At the same time the number of trips per traveler this summer increased by 6%.

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