“Skyscanner has analysed search statistics for the past weekend and found that the number of requests for flights to Russia from foreign markets has increased tenfold. The sharp increase in interest occurred immediately after the official draw ceremony for the teams for the upcoming World Cup World Cup, which Russia will host in 2018,” the press service of the Skyskanner search engine said.
The main fans are in the UK and Germany
The most devoted football fans, according to the service, were residents of Great Britain, Germany, Spain and Poland. They searched for plane tickets to Russia during the World Cup most often. Americans were in fifth place in terms of the number of searches for Russian destinations, although the US team did not make it to the final part of the tournament.
"Several countries showed an extreme increase in requests for tickets to Russia over the past weekend: Poland (50 times), Sweden (48 times), Switzerland (20 times), Belgium (20 times) and Croatia (17 times). Searches from South Korea (15 times), Japan (14 times) and Egypt (14 times) also increased significantly. The Russian team will play Egypt in the group stage," the press service reported.
Russian fans are inferior to foreign ones
The number of search queries for flights from Russian cities to the 2018 World Cup matches doubled over the weekend compared to the same weekend this year (November 24-26), with Russian fans accounting for only 4% of the total, while the remaining 96% queries came from abroad, Skyskanner reported.
Similar data was provided by the travel service OneTwoTrip. “Sales of air tickets for the World Cup period to the cities hosting the World Cup increased by 2.2 times last weekend compared to the average for November weekends,” OneTwoTrip reported.
Everyone wants to go to Moscow, St. Petersburg and Sochi
The most popular cities among foreign fans, according to Skyscanner, were Moscow (57%), St. Petersburg (10%) and Sochi (6%). They were followed by Kaliningrad (6%), Kazan (5%), Volgograd, Yekaterinburg, Saransk and Rostov-on-Don (3% each), as well as Nizhny Novgorod (2% each) and Samara (1%).
“On the domestic market during the Championship, the most popular flights are to Sochi (35%), Moscow (17%), St. Petersburg (15%), and Kaliningrad (9%). Fifth place is shared between Yekaterinburg and Samara (5% each). An analysis of the dates shows that fans are trying to get to the opening ceremony and match, the matches between the Russian and Argentina national teams, as well as the matches of other teams taking place on weekends,” the OneTwoTrip press service reported.
Prices will rise
The average cost of a ticket for the World Cup period is, according to OneTwoTrip, 15,445 rubles, which is 11% more than the same period in 2017. The ticket search engine Aviasales previously reported, that airfare prices during the 2018 World Cup increased by 10% in almost all cities.
Experts predict a further increase in prices for air tickets to cities where World Cup matches will be held due to increased demand and advise Russian football fans to hurry up with their purchases.
The schedule of all matches of the group stage of the 2018 World Cup, which will be held in 11 cities of Russia at 12 stadiums, was determined on Friday, December 1. The draw for the tournament took place in Moscow at the State Kremlin Palace.
Source: tourism.interfax.ru
