November 9, 2018, Moscow — The cost of New Year's holidays for Russians in the period from December 25, 2018 to January 20, 2019 became higher than last year: on domestic routes by 18%, and on international routes by 40%. These are the findings of a new study by the service online booking Ostrovok.ru, conducted in early November. On average, hotel accommodation abroad will cost Russians 60,700 rubles, in Russian cities - 18,900 rubles. One of the factors that influenced the significant change in the cost of accommodation in foreign hotels is exchange rate fluctuations and the weakening of the ruble against the dollar and euro.
The average cost of a night in foreign 5* hotels (22,600 rubles) and 4* hotels (9,960 rubles) increased almost equally - by 28% and 27%, respectively. The cost of a night in apartments abroad increased by 26% (10,300 rubles). On domestic routes, the most significant price increase occurred in 2* hotels, where a night will cost 13% more than a year earlier (3,050 rubles). Accommodation in a hostel will cost 4% more (1,470 rubles). The cost of staying in apartments in Russian cities increased by 1%.
According to data from early November 2018, Moscow was the most popular city for Russian tourists to travel to during the New Year holidays — Russians booked hotels in the capital most often. A year earlier, Moscow also topped the rating. Prague took second place, and St. Petersburg was third — these same cities were in the top last year, but St. Petersburg was second, and Prague was third.
Three cities where Russian tourists actively booked hotels last November for the New Year holidays were not included in the top 20 destinations for New Year holidays this year - Singapore, Vilnius and Bangkok. New destinations in the rating were Dubai, New York, Yalta.
As for the top 10 most popular Russian cities for New Year's holidays, the top five remained unchanged from last year: Moscow, St. Petersburg, Sochi, Kazan, Yalta. Kaliningrad took sixth place, as it did a year earlier. Nizhny Novgorod and Yekaterinburg rose one place in the ranking — to seventh and eighth place, respectively. Yaroslavl and Kostroma did not make it into the list of the most booked destinations at the beginning of November. New cities in the ranking were Sevastopol and Petrozavodsk, which took ninth and tenth place, respectively.
The average duration of planned trips in the period from December 25, 2018 to January 20, 2019 on international routes is 5.2 days, on domestic routes - 3.9 days.
Among the most popular foreign travel destinations in early November, the cheapest places to book a 4* hotel abroad are in Riga (4,500 rubles per night) and Istanbul (5,000 rubles). According to Ostrovok.ru, the most expensive places to stay in a 4* hotel are New York (16,600 rubles), Munich (15,500 rubles), and Paris (14,100 rubles).
As for Russian cities, the most affordable hotels were 4* in Nizhny Novgorod (3,900 rubles) and Yekaterinburg (4,200 rubles). A night in hotels in Moscow, St. Petersburg and Kaliningrad will cost about 5,000 rubles. The most expensive night for tourists will be in Yalta (8,900 rubles).
Source: trn-news.ru
