Tour operators opened bookings for summer 2018 tours very early. Mostly, from November 1, 2017, and some even earlier - in August. Already in November, they reported a significant increase in the number of bookings, especially for Turkey, which accounted for up to 40% of all sales.
In advance - cheaper
According to PR director of tour operator Tez Tour Larisa Akhanova, the volume of early bookings this year is several times higher than last year's figures. "Our tourists have "got a taste" of the early booking promotions. We expect that sales of Turkey under the promotion will grow more than fourfold - this became possible thanks to hoteliers who stimulated the market with discounts up to 40%," she said.
The Biblio-Globus company also reported an increase in sales under early booking promotions. “Tourists are trying to book accommodation in popular hotels in advance, where there may be a shortage of places in the summer. The promotion allows you to book a summer vacation with maximum benefit - discounts reach 20-30%. Additional promotions are also periodically held, including “room upgrade” and “change in meal plan” without any additional charges,” the tour operator’s press service said.
The press service of tour operator Anex Tour noted a trend towards increasing the depth of sales and purchasing tours in advance. According to the company, the share of last-minute sales is decreasing.
Top Summer Destinations
According to Marina Makarkova, director of the public relations department of tour operator Coral Travel, the most popular destinations based on early booking are Turkey, Tunisia, Greece, Spain and Russia. “Volumes in Turkey increased by 101%, in Tunisia – by 82%. We note a slight decrease in sales compared to last year in Greece and Russia. Interest in Spain remained at the 2017 level,” she said.
The press service of the tour operator Intourist noted that demand for Turkey has grown more than 2.5 times this year. Among the most popular destinations are Turkey, Sochi/Crimea/Anapa, St. Petersburg, Greece and the Baltics (Estonia and Lithuania). “This year, the popularity of tours to the Baltics has more than doubled. This happened due to price reductions by local hoteliers, as well as the availability of transportation,” Intourist said.
The press service of the tour operator Biblio-Globus reported that demand for summer holidays in Turkey has grown by 100%, in Spain – by 30%. “In addition, as last year, tours to Cyprus, Greece, Montenegro and Italy are popular. Among domestic destinations, Sochi and resorts of the Krasnodar Territory are in the lead – their share in the structure of sales in Russia for the summer is more than 70%,” the company said.
What about the prices?
According to M. Makarkova, the average bill for a trip to Turkey is $744 per person, which is 10% higher than last year. A trip to Tunisia, as in 2017, will cost 652 euros. “Prices for Greece and Spain have decreased by 9% and 6% and are $896 and 1003 euros, respectively. The cost of a vacation in Russia has remained at last year’s level and is 36 thousand rubles per person,” she specified. M. Makarkova added that the average duration of foreign trips is 10.7 nights, and tours around Russia – 10 nights.
The Biblio-Globus company reported that prices for all destinations remained at last year's level. "The average bill for the early booking promotion for resorts in Russia (7 nights, 3* hotel and breakfasts) is 15.7 thousand rubles per person, to the Antalya coast of Turkey - 25.7 thousand rubles, to Cyprus - 30.4 thousand rubles, to Greece - 36.3 thousand rubles, to resorts in Spain - 45.6 thousand rubles," the press service said.
According to L. Akhanova, the average bill for a 10-day tour to Turkey with accommodation in a 4-5* hotel on an all-inclusive basis is 45 thousand rubles. “To Greece, which is in second place in popularity, the average bill will be about 1 thousand euros per person for a vacation of 10-11 nights. To Italy, which is also very popular, the average bill starts from 500 euros,” she noted.
Anex Tour also reported on the active development of dynamic packaging based on regular flights. “The most popular destinations include Georgia (average bill – 660 ye), Turkey (541 ye), the UAE (1150 ye) and Spain (692 ye),” the company said.
In 2017, Russians made more than 38 million trips abroad, which is almost 20% more than the year before. Thus, the tourist flow almost reached the level of the pre-crisis 2014, when 42 million Russian tourists went abroad. The number of trips within Russia last year also increased and amounted to 56.5 million.
Source: tourism.interfax.ru
