Scott’s Tours was founded in May 1991 to offer holidays in then-communist Russia and the rest of the Soviet Union. Since then, it has expanded to cater for all types of traveller.

We arrange travel for almost any purpose – our clients include everyone from oil and gas companies to universities, television and radio companies, pop groups, politicians and anyone else with reason to travel.

Our staff have an unrivalled knowledge of our destinations – through background and experience. We employ natives of Russia, Ukraine, Lithuania, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan as well as the UK. Our sales consultants have an average of 11 years experience in travel, and have been with us for up to 10 years.

Scott’s Tours was, and is, owned 50/50 by Russian and English shareholders.

HISTORY

The Gorbachev era meant new freedoms, one of which was that Russians and foreigners could talk openly to one another for the first time. The original plan for the company was to arrange home-stays for the benefit of inquisitive visitors and hosts alike (hence the company's name).

But just three months after the company opened, both it and the new freedoms looked doomed to failure when Gorbachev was abducted in August 1991. The attempted coup by hard-liners failed, however, and travel between the two countries began to grow.

As travel developed, the role of Scott’s Tours did so as well. Tourism actually declined in the early 90’s, as the instability put some people off, and the end of communism removed the mystique which had been a reason for many to visit.

Business travel, however, began to expand as Russia and the other countries started to enter the world economy. Alongside purely commercial traffic, many other links began to spring up – council to council and university to university are just two examples. Journalists, broadcasters and politicians are others whose numbers expanded considerably.

Over the years, another category, which barely existed in 1991, became a major factor. England, and London in particular, is now home to a large number of ex-patriate Russians, Ukrainians and other former Soviet citizens. Scott’s arranges travel for many of these people.

There were unexpected developments: it transpired that Russians were keen to see all the pop groups that had not been able to tour there under communism. A new market opened up for favourites from the 60’s and 70’s such as Suzi Quattro and The Sweet. Russia is now a top destination for musicians, both old and new. Scott’s arranges travel for many bands and DJ’s each year.

Since the mid 90’s, tourism has become a major industry, albeit with ups and downs along the way. Events such as Yeltsin shelling the White House have been dramatic enough to put a temporary halt to casual visitors, but with Moscow in particular devoting major resources to infrastructure development, the tourism industry continues to overcome such setbacks.

Business travel, too, has had its setbacks. The financial crisis of 1998 caused a 50% drop in commercial traffic, virtually overnight. But, as with tourism, natural forces have ensured that the long-term trend has been for greater contact.

So the company has developed into a very different one from that originally envisaged. But then it has had to – over the last 16 years it has had quite a few competitors, many of whom no longer exist because they weren’t flexible enough to cope with a constantly changing market.

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