The start of the summer season is approaching. The TRN portal found out from Russian tour operators what they expect from summer 2018, what causes the greatest concerns, what new tourism products are being prepared for launch. More about this in our review.
About the progress of the season
IN TUI Russia we are convinced that the season will be successful.
"All mass destinations show growth at the early booking stage. The TOP destinations by demand level look like this: the undisputed leader is Turkey, the demand for Turkish resorts has doubled, followed by Greece and Cyprus, Spain and Italy are also showing good growth. It is worth noting the positive dynamics of booking tours around Russia. "Home" resorts are becoming more and more popular. Thus, the demand for holidays in Sochi has grown by 30% compared to last year," reported to TRN in press service companies.
IN Tez Tour also highlight two main favorites of summer demand - Turkey and Greece. The rate of booking in Turkey exceeded last year's figures by more than 4 times. At the same time, the depth continues to increase, there are applications up to and including October.
"We have increased our volumes to Turkey by 50%, the geography of our flights is 19 cities, including Moscow and St. Petersburg. Early bookings for Greece this year by 90% were ahead of last year's results, second only to Turkey. The depth of bookings reaches October. The average bill for Greece is about 1,000 euros per person, the average length of stay is 10-11 nights. The top three Greek leaders in early booking are Crete, Peloponnese, Rhodes. Demand for Corfu has grown significantly. The list of popular destinations also includes Spain, Italy and Cyprus. On average, growth for these countries will be about 35%. It should be noted that for several seasons in a row there has been interest in the Spanish and Italian islands. The bestsellers are Sardinia, Sicily, Mallorca," she said. PR director of the tour operator Larisa Akhanova.
In the company "Biblio-Globus" demand for RB promotions for holidays in Turkey already exceeds last year's figures by 100%, in Spain - by 30%. Bookings for holidays in Cyprus, Greece, Montenegro and Italy are also active and maintain last year's high figures.
The absolute leader among domestic destinations for Biblio-Globus clients is Sochi and the resorts of Krasnodar Krai. The share of sales in these destinations for the summer season currently amounts to more than 70%.
"The main trend of the upcoming season is a great interest in family vacations. In this regard, the average duration of tours varies from 10 to 14 nights or more, which allows tourists to painlessly adapt to the climate conditions and fully enjoy their vacation. Tourists choose the entire range of hotels from 1* to 5* and give preference to the all-inclusive meal plan. Another trend this year is that tourists are increasingly focusing on higher-category hotels," celebrate in press service companies.
In ANEX Tour Türkiye, Greece, Cyprus, Spain and the Dominican Republic are in demand for the summer season.
"The prices for early booking are attractive, which is why we are noting an increase in demand compared to last year. We can also note the active development of dynamic packaging on regular flights within the GDS direction.
Given that early booking was opened earlier this season, we are seeing a lot of interest in purchasing tours in advance,” reported in press service operator.
Risks of the season
Tez Tour believes that the main challenges of the upcoming season may arise in the aviation sector.
"This may be due to the increased load on airports during the World Cup and adjustments to programs. In addition, it will be difficult during peak dates in Europe: there is already a shortage of rooms in July-August. This is due to the fact that Europeans will vote again for vacations in Europe," — explains Larisa Akhanova.
TUI Russia sees the main difficulty that operators and agents are already facing as a shortage of places in popular hotels.
“Stop sales are already starting to come from some hotels, this is connected not only with the increase in demand from Russian tourists, but also with the increased activity of European markets,” the company noted.
New items
TUI Russia has a number of new products for the summer season, such as package tours to Albania. Direct flights from Moscow to Tirana will be operated starting June 19. The company believes that this country could become the discovery of the year.
The tour operator’s summer offer also includes tours to Tunisia and resorts in mainland Greece, as well as new programs in Italy.
"Special attention is paid to the hotel base and air transportation. The offer of vacation concepts has been increased - TUI FUN&SUN and TUI DAY&NIGHT Connected, the number of exclusive TUI hotels has been expanded. The company's air transportation will be provided by leased aircraft: Airbuses A-330 and A-321 of I Fly and Ural Airlines. Additional transportation needs are covered by blocks on flights of other airlines. Including Turkish Airlines, Yamal, Corendon, Cobalt, Flydubai, S7, Ellinair, Red Wings. The network of regional flights has been expanded - for the summer season of 2018, vacation programs are offered from 12 cities. Our offer also includes Russian "premieres" - package tours to Kamchatka and Sakhalin," reported in press service TUI.
The operator plans to introduce several more new products in the near future.
Tez Tour intends to focus on quality in the new season.
"The outbound tourist flow is actively recovering, there are more tourists and it is important not to lose in service. Among our new products is Adjara on the wings of S7 5 times a week," Larisa Akhanova said.
Among the main novelties of the season in ANEX Tour are Switzerland and Croatia. Soon these destinations will be presented in the company's assortment on the basis of packages with flights on regular flights (GDS).
As for domestic tourism, the tour operator currently offers vacations in Krasnaya Polyana, Sochi, the Far East, the Republic of Tatarstan and the Kaliningrad Region based on regular flights. However, in the future, the company plans to expand its range. The operator is currently assessing the market situation in several areas. Among them are Altai, Baikal and Karelia.
In the summer season of 2018, Biblio-Globus plans to strengthen its positions in leading destinations. Among the tour operator's innovations is the resumption of the flight program to Bodrum, thanks to which in the summer season the company's clients will again have access to a vacation on the Aegean coast of Turkey.
We wish everyone a successful season!
Source: trn-news.ru
