Russians Still Holidaying in Moldova Despite Tensions

Rocky relations between Moldova and the Kremlin, mainly over the breakaway region of Transnistria, are not deterring Russians from vacationing in the former Soviet republic, new statistics show.

Moldova is in third place this year when it comes to visa-free holidays destinations for Russians, after Armenia and Georgia - mainly the latter's breakaway region of Abkhazia.

About 67 per cent of air tickets bought by Russians between May and July 2018 were for these countries, which was 2 per cent more than in the same period in 2017, according to Interfax.

After these three destinations, the visa-free countries most visited by Russian tourists were Egypt, South Korea, Thailand and Israel.

The top three destinations for Russians overall in 2017 were Turkey, Thailand and China, however, visited by 2 million Russians that year - followed by Spain, Italy and Germany, with about 1 million Russian visitors overall.

In Moldova, Russians are the third most numerous tourists after Romanians and Ukrainians, according to Sergiu Iordan, a consultant with the Tourism Agency of Moldova, and according to official statistics.

The statistics are based on the number of tourists who crossed the border and checked in to licenced touristic establishments like hotels, motels or guesthouses.

The National Bureau of Statistics said Russians made up about 13,000 of the total number of tourists in 2017 - 145,165 people.

In the first half of 2018, according to the same statistics, 44,145 tourists visited Moldova, of whom 5,936 were Russians, 8,970 were Ukrainians and 20,082 were Romanians, a statistician from the National Bureau of Statistics told BIRN.

Most tourists visit Moldova for its food and well-known wines, taking trips to vineyards...