TOURIST officials in Scotland are forecasting an influx of high-spending Russian millionaires after a tour agency revealed plans to introduce regular direct flights between Moscow and Edinburgh next year.
Speaking at a reception hosted by VisitScotland in Moscow Ilya Itkin, general director of Russian tour agency PAC Group, confirmed that charter flights will begin in the summer.
"There is a lot of interest from my clients in flying direct to Scot
land," he said. "At present, most of them arrive in Scotland via London and that is not so easy. Most Russian tourists go to London to see the sights and then on to Scotland, but with direct flights there will be plenty who are happy to go straight to Scotland."
According to Itkin, the flights will be a joint venture between the PAC Group, BSI and Millennium tour groups. The three are the largest Russian travel agencies operating UK tours.
The flights are the type of initiative that VisitScotland is eager to encourage. Outside the United States, Russia is home to the most millionaires in the world, but a rapidly expanding middle class also makes the country a key emerging market for Scottish tourism.
Last year, 26,000 Russians visited Scotland and early statistics suggest that the volume of visitors coming here has increased by 37% on the figures for 2005/06. Attracted by the scenery, history and heritage, the average Russian tourist spends £1,148 during their stay in the country, more than any other nationality. Russian tourism contributes £16m a year to the Scottish economy.
"They are a high spending group," says VisitScotland director Willie Macleod. "At the moment, we are attracting the more affluent sector of the population and they are spending over £1,000 a trip which is quite a high figure."
Foreign travel is a status symbol for Russian tourists and they have high expectations of the food and accommodation on offer. They mainly book four or five star accommodation and VisitScotland sees the Russian market as a potentially profitable opportunity for Scotland's luxury businesses and brands.
On average, Russian tourists to Scotland stay for seven or more days. "They tend to stay a bit longer which ups the spend," says Macleod. "Russian visitors have to obtain a visa to visit the UK so it's not really a short break destination for them."
The VisitScotland reception was anchored around the inaugural Kremlin Zoria, a four-day tattoo held in Moscow's Red Square and concluding today. The event was organised by Muscovite Vitaly Miranov who visited the Edinburgh Military Tattoo in 1998 and organised the first performance by Russian performers at the tattoo in Scotland's capital.
Endorsed by Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Kremlin Zoria has Brigadier Melville Jameson, former producer and chief executive of the Edinburgh Tattoo, acting as senior adviser.
Along with 542 Russian performers and representatives of seven other countries, the Zoria features the pipes and drums of the Royal Scots Borderers, the Scots Guards, the Highlanders and the Black Watch. While its organisers insist that it is not a facsimile of the Edinburgh Military Tattoo, the similarities between the two events made the Zoria a valuable marketing tool for VisitScotland.
"We recognised that it was a great opportunity to capitalise on our existing marketing activity in Russia," said Macleod. "An event like the Kremlin Zoria provides linkages to the Edinburgh Tattoo which is internationally recognised and a fantastic showcase for Scotland. The opportunity to amplify our marketing messages by associating ourselves with the iconic pipes and drums of Scotland at an event like the Kremlin Zoria was too good to miss."
It is a view echoed by Andy Verdon, the defence attaché to the British Embassy in Russia. The murder in Britain of former KGB spy Alexander Litvinenko, Russia's refusal to hand over chief suspect Andrei Lugovoy, and consequent tit-for-tat expulsions of diplomats have not made his life easy, but Verdon sees activities like the Zoria as beneficial to relations and trade.
"The UK is one of the biggest investors in Russia so the trade relationship is enormously important and growing," he said. "Where trade goes, political relationships will generally follow. There are political issues at the moment surrounding people like [dissident Boris] Berezovsky and Litvinenko that make life difficult.
"Events such as Kremlin Zoria are very high profile. There is nowhere more important in Russia than Red Square and the President will be here in person on Saturday night."
