Holidays in Russia
Tours around Russia are most popular with the tour operator Intourist during the New Year holidays. First of all, this is Sochi, as well as St. Petersburg, Crimea, excursion tours along the Golden Ring, to the residence of Father Frost in Veliky Ustyug and Karelia, to the resorts Kavkazskie Mineralnye Vody. Moreover, the demand for tours to St. Petersburg increased by 66%, for tours to Sochi – by 9%.
According to the PR director of the air ticket search service Aviasales Janis Dzenis, among independent travelers 73% choose Russian destinations for the New Year. "It is not surprising that most tourists prefer flights within the country - they are 4.5 times cheaper. On average, air tickets for domestic flights cost 10-11 thousand rubles, while abroad - 46 thousand," he said.
According to Aviasales, the top popular Russian destinations where travelers will go for the New Year holidays include Moscow, St. Petersburg, Krasnodar, Sochi, Simferopol and Mineralnye Vody.
The most popular Russian destinations from Moscow for online travel agency Kupibilet were St. Petersburg, Makhachkala and Mineralnye Vody. The top 10 also included Rostov, Sochi, Krasnodar, Yekaterinburg, Samara, Ufa and Kazan. Demand for Makhachkala (+136%), Yekaterinburg (+84%) and Ufa (+56%) increased most noticeably.
From St. Petersburg, independent travelers preferred to go to Moscow, Samara, Krasnodar, Ufa and Mineralnye Vody for the New Year. Novosibirsk and Irkutsk also made it into the rating of popular destinations, with demand for these cities growing by 175% and 158% respectively.
“As for the average ticket price for air tickets within Russia, it has decreased by 12%,” the company’s press service clarified.
Russians fell in love with winter Turkey
The increased demand for holidays in Turkey, which tour operators have observed throughout the past year, continues in the winter season. Turkish authorities predict that by the end of the year, the Russian tourist flow will grow to a record 6 million arrivals.
The tour operator Coral Travel's top 5 foreign destinations for the New Year holidays include Turkey, Thailand, the UAE, Vietnam and India. Compared to last year, winter Turkey became the leader, with Russians buying tours to this country 55% more often.
"There is a noticeable growing interest in New Year's Alanya. There are many good hotels with indoor heated pools and animation, and the city itself has a lot of shops, cafes, bars and restaurants. In addition, prices in Alanya are lower than in neighboring resorts in Turkey," Marina Makarkova, head of the company's public relations department, told the Interfax-Tourism portal.
She added that flights from Moscow to Alanya Gazipasa Airport are carried out twice a week. The tour operator flies to Antalya daily. The average bill for a New Year's tour to Antalya is $685 per person, to Alanya - $508.
Turkey also entered the top sales for the New Year in the Intourist company. “Tours to Istanbul and resort hotels in Antalya are in demand. This year, for the first time, we opened sales of tours to Antalya resorts in winter with arrivals twice a week. Tours for the New Year and until the end of January are almost all sold out,” the tour operator’s press service told the Interfax-Tourism portal.
In addition to Turkey, Estonia, Italy and the Czech Republic were included in the rating of popular foreign destinations of Intourist. And the demand for inexpensive ski destinations has grown most noticeably - Andorra and Bulgaria. The tour operator's exotic new products - Qatar and Lebanon - also got off to a good start. "The average bill for most destinations, unfortunately, increased by 10-15% due to the growth of tariffs for aviation fuel and the exchange rate difference," the company's press service noted.
The most popular New Year's destinations for tour operator Anex Tour were Thailand, the UAE, the Dominican Republic, Cuba, Vietnam, India, Sri Lanka, China (Hainan). "The popularity of these countries is due to their fame on the Russian market, good transport accessibility (including charter), no visas or simplified entry rules, as well as relatively affordable prices," the company's press service clarified.
Thus, the average cost of a tour to Thailand for two for a week will be from 90 thousand rubles, to Vietnam and Sri Lanka - from 84 thousand, to India and the UAE - from 45 thousand. A ski tour to Andorra or Bulgaria will cost from 53 thousand rubles.
"Compared to last year, we do not observe significant changes in average prices, there is demand, and it is quite stable. After the New Year holidays, prices will stabilize, and destinations such as India, Sri Lanka and the Caribbean will become more accessible - including due to many promotions and special offers," the tour operator's press service noted.
Where do they go on their own?
"Independent Russian travelers for the New Year most often booked flights to Tbilisi, Yerevan, Prague, Istanbul, Tel Aviv and Berlin. Demand for foreign destinations has grown by 19% compared to last year," J. Dzenis told the Interfax-Tourism portal.
The most noticeable “gains” were made by Berlin (demand +29%, average bill -11%), Tbilisi (+17%, bill +3%) and Istanbul (+13%, bill +11%). On average, a roundtrip flight during the New Year’s dates will cost tourists 18.4 thousand rubles, which is 7% more expensive than last year.
The press service of the online travel agency Kupibilet.ru also reported on the demand for Tbilisi and Prague. These cities are among the top 5 destinations for the New Year holidays with departures from Moscow and St. Petersburg.
Chisinau, Paris, Milan, Baku and Tel Aviv were also among the popular destinations. The most noticeable increase in demand compared to 2017 was for flights from Moscow to Paris (+199%) and Tbilisi (+81%), and from St. Petersburg to Kiev (+138%) and Berlin (+65%). On the contrary, demand decreased for flights from Moscow to Baku (-48%) and Tashkent (-41%), from St. Petersburg to Baku (-87%) and Prague (51%).
“The average bill for international flights increased by 1%,” the press service clarified.
New Year holidays will last in Russia from December 30 to January 8.
Source: tourism.interfax.ru
