Dear Partners,

A number of European countries have now confirmed that are now open to Russian visitors, including Slovenia, Cyprus and Greece, as well as other countries that opened already last year such as Montenegro, Turkey , Dubai, Egypt and the Maldives. But with the May holidays soon approaching, traditionally the 2nd most important period for international travel after the summer holidays, Russians are anxious to see if other European destinations will allow ordinary Russians to visit and what certificates are required to make travel as carefree as possible.

On the other hand, Russia is one of the few countries where anyone (at least in the larger cities) can sign up for the Covid-19 vaccine via an online platform but to date the take up has not been very high. This is probably due  to a lack of trust, with many people preferring to wait and see. This is likely to mean that international travel require Russians to produce a negative PCR test, which is very cheap and easy to get in Russia and costs around 25 Euro, but it may result in additional expense if a 2nd test is required at destinations arrival. Some countries such as Cyprus, are planning to make the tests free for arriving tourists. Either way, the Russian is looking very up-beat as international travel is looking far more likely than in the summer of 2020.

Helene Lloyd

23 February 2021, Moscow

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