The number of Russians taking vacations abroad has shrunk by 40 percent in 2015 compared to the same period last year. According to Oleg Safonov, head of federal tourism agency, Rosturism, this trend is set to continue.

At the same time, the number of foreign tourists visiting Russia has increased by 16.5 percent. This is mainly due to a jump in the number Chinese tourists to Russia, Safonov says.

He also stated that the Russian tourist industry must do more to encourage citizens to spend their vacations within the Russian Federation. He calls for improvement in resorts' service and infrastructure.

In early autumn 2014, Russian tour firms witnessed a severe drop in sales of vacation packages for the New Year, one of the main tourism periods for Russians. They blamed this on the falling value of the ruble, travel restrictions for some citizens, and the falling into bankruptcy of a string of travel agencies. At the same time a rise in domestic tourism was observed.

In spring 2015, the value of the ruble began to gradually rise. The demand for foreign trips over the holidays in early May (another popular vacation time in Russia) was higher than tour firms had expected - in comparison with 2014 it had fallen only by 25 percent.

At the same time competition in the domestic tour industry led to a massive drop in vacation prices. In several cases, trips to the Crimea were sold for less than their actual worth, according to the newspaper Kommersant.